It was heartache for England as a 1-0 defeat against Australia ended any hopes of a Commonwealth gold medal. The number five side pressed the reigning Commonwealth champions but ultimately failed to convert their possession into goals.
Chances came and went and while there were several moments when it looked as through the England side were going to take the lead, it was always a case of ‘almost but not quite.’ Midway through the first half, Kerry Williams’ deflection forced the Hockeyroo’s goalkeeper into a clearance and Alex Danson also came close, narrowly failing to connect with a cross from the right from Leicester’s Hannah Macleod.
Right before half time England were awarded two penalty corners but were unable to execute their textbook finishes which have served them so well throughout the tournament. From the first, Crista Cullen hit the foot of the oncoming Fiona Johnson and although she found the target on the second, the Australian keeper made sure it didn’t find the back of the goal.
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Disaster struck in the opening moments of the second half when Australian captain, Madonna Blyth, deflected the ball to the left of England’s goalkeeper, Beth Storry. Hopes were raised when five minutes from the end Leicester’s Laura Unsworth drilled a low cross in the from the right that the Australian defence failed to stop. The ball found Danson but she was unable to connect and it was a similar story in the closing minutes when England could not put the finishing touches to the rebound of a final attempt by Unsworth.
A tearful Kate Walsh spoke after the match: “I thought we had a large amount of possession. They defended deep. It was about trying to get that final corner, that final goal. We’re just devastated.” Head Coach, Danny Kerry, also pointed to the Australian defence, saying, “It’s very difficult to score with 19 bodies in the circle. Australia had about four circle penetrations and didn’t really threaten but unfortunately a weak penalty corner was deflected past Beth in goal. We need to understand that if teams don’t want to play hockey against us then we need to learn to break them down.”
England will now play either New Zealand or South Africa for their third bronze medal match of this summer following the Champions Trophy and World Cup.
Kirsty Page, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
