Heroic England beaten by Australia in semi-final thriller

England 2

Phil Roper (12 FG); Zach Wallace (19 PS)

Australia 3

Blake Govers (27 PC); Jacob Anderson (43 FG); Daniel Beale (50 FG)

England will battle for bronze at the Commonwealth Games after an excellent fightback from Australia consigned the home nation to defeat in a gripping semi-final in Birmingham.

The Kookaburras overturned a two goal deficit to win 3-2 and secure a place in Monday’s final, while England will face South Africa with the final spot on the podium at stake.

Phil Roper and a Zach Wallace penalty stroke gave the host nation a dream start against the number one side in the world.

But Australia showed their resilience and a Blake Govers goal just before half-time ensured it remained tight.

Jacob Anderson and Daniel Beale completed the turnaround but England can be proud of a heroic performance in front of a sell-out crowd at the University of Birmingham Hockey & Squash Centre.

Even late in the day they went mightily close to forcing a penalty shootout with three penalty corners late in the game but Australia held firm.

England: Payne (GK), Waller, Wallace, Sloan, Ward, Albery, Roper, Goodfield, Ansell, Condon, Sorsby.

Subs: Griffiths, Sloan, Mazarelo, Rushmere, Creed, Bandurak, Calnan.

Match Report

Australia haven’t lost a men’s match at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 but England showed no fear in the early exchanges as they looked to bring that record to an end.

Immediately forcing the first corners, Stuart Rushmere nearly put them ahead only to misfire a few yards out from goal.

But England wouldn’t have to wait long to give a lively crowd something to cheer.

Roper scored one of the goals of the tournament, after he was found by a great through ball from Wallace, managing to strike early and with enough pace to send the ball through Andrew Charter’s legs.

And they had a second not long into the second quarter after a penalty corner deflected onto an Australian defender on the line.

Dependable captain Wallace made no mistake by calmly converting the penalty stroke to double England’s lead.

Australia looked shell shocked but found their way back into the tie when Govers scored from a penalty corner on the stroke of half time.

England suffered a blow at the start of the third quarter when Will Calnan saw yellow for having gone to ground while England were attacking the Australian circle.

But during his 10 minute absence his team defended heroically to keep the Kookaburras at bay, with Ollie Payne having little to do in goal.

But just as it looked like England would head into the final quarter with the advantage, Australia showed why they are serial winners at the Commonwealths.

A swift move up the pitch was clinically finished by Anderson as his powerful reverse stick shot beat Payne and levelled the match.

Rhys Smith went close to restoring the lead in the final quarter but swung and missed when well placed inside the circle.

Not long afterwards, Beale struck to complete the comeback, with England’s referral for not stopping the ball from the free hit not upheld by the officials.

England responded by still giving it everything they had in the closing stages.

The hosts piled pressure on the Aussie circle after withdrawing Payne for an extra outfield player, with two particular penalty corners so nearly seeing top scorer Nick Bandurak find the net.

But they couldn’t find the goal that would have forced the shootout and Australia held on to win a thrilling semi-final.

The men will now regroup before facing South Africa on Monday in the bronze medal match.

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Looking to watch some more international action after the Commonwealth Games? Tickets for England women’s Euro qualifiers at Durham 25-28 August are on sale now.