Orange’s Eddie Bone and her Hockeyroos face India in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games semi-finals on Thursday night, after completing their undefeated preliminary campaign with a 2-0 win over Scotland on Tuesday.
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The victory clinched top spot in pool B for the Australians, they leapfrogged New Zealand after finishing the initial phase with three wins and a draw, scoring 10 goals and conceding zero.
Crucially, thanks to that top billing, the Hockeyroos have avoided facing top seed England until the final too, if both teams win through the final four of course.
The English face the Black Sticks in a blockbuster semi-final showdown.
“[India has] changed a bit as have we,” Bone said.
“We’ve got a bit of homework to do on them so we’re clear on what our goals will be against them, how to score, how they’ll look to score.
“I’m confident if we do everything we have for our previous matches we’ll be able to get everything done.
“Our goal was to make the semi-finals and we’ve achieved that goal.
“Now we’re looking to that next match against India [on Thursday] night. It’s really exciting.
“We’ve got a bit of homework to do on them, we haven’t played them for a little while.
“We’ve ticked that first box and now we’re looking forward to the medal matches.”
Jodie Kenny’s 12th minute drag-flick and Gerringong youngster Grace Stewart’s calm third-quarter finish ensured the crucial victory for the Hockeyroos.
Possession was fairly even, but the Hockeyroos turned that into attacking opportunities all night, with 31 circle entries to Scotland’s 10, along with seven penalty corners.
Australia had the better of the early chances with skipper Emily Smith intercepting and flashing wide in the fifth minute, before the first penalty corner of the game on 11 minutes.
Scotland keeper Amy Gibson denied Jodie Kenny with the initial drag-flick but Australia successfully referred for a secondary penalty corner, which the 30-year-old Queenslander converted.
The Hockeyroos came close to doubling their advantage in the 20th minute with Kenny involved again after a fine overhead found Bone, whose left-flank cutback was well-controlled by Savannah Fitzpatrick, although her shot was saved by Scotland sub keeper Nicola Cochrane.
The Hockeyroos would get the second goal in the 41st minute on a fast break when Fitzpatrick laid inside for Stewart, who thundered her shot under Gibson.
Thursday’s semi-final starts at 9.15pm.
