EDWINA Bone and the Hockeyroos will head into tonight’s fourth clash of the Hawke’s Bay Tournament against Korea full of confidence following a 4-nil demolition of China on Tuesday.
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The Australian women rammed home four unanswered goals, including a second-half double to Kellie White, to completely outplay their Asian rivals in the third round of the New Zealand-based Six Nations competition earlier this week.
The four-goal triumph means the Hockeyroos now sit in third place on the Six Nations standings with six points from three games.
Argentina sits on top of the ladder alongside the Chinese, both with six points from two games, while hosts New Zealand (three points, two games), Korea (three points, three games) and Japan (zero points, three games) occupy the lower rungs of the tournament’s ladder.
Set to tackle Korea in their next game today before rounding out the pool stage of the competition with a crucial clash with New Zealand on Saturday, Hockeyroos’ coach Adam Comments said his side’s big win over China was its best performance of the tournament.
“We physically stepped it up, giving China limited time to make decisions and react through our constant pressure. We intercepted well and created ourselves lots of opportunities,” Commens said.
Bone, a key component of the Hockeyroos defence, led the way for the Australians at the back.
Commens believes his side’s defence has steeled at the business end of the tournament.
He added preparation will be key ahead of today’s game.
“We will prepare for (the Korea) game in a similar way to last weeks,” he said.
“We went away and debriefed and looked at fine tuning a few areas in the lead up to Korea.”
Commens also lauded the effort of Mathilda Carmichael, who scored her first international goal against China.
“It was a great effort by Mathilda. We use her as a spare forward and it’s not her natural playing position. She’s doing really well and it gives our forwards a bit of a break,” he said.
“I think it’s fair to say both myself and the team are very pleased with her performance ,” he said.
The Hockeyroos play Korea on Thursday at 3pm AEST.
They play New Zealand at 1.30pm AEST on Saturday before the finals begin on Sunday.
HOCKEYROOS 4 (Kellie White 2, Georgia Nanscawen, Mathilda Carmichael) def CHINA 0
