Kookaburras make it two from two

29 Nov 2009, 6:58 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Australia have gone clear at the top of the Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament table after demolishing The Netherlands 7-2 in Melbourne on Sunday.

The Kookaburras say they're a work-in-progress, but they look well ahead of schedule after torching old rivals The Netherlands 7-2 on Sunday to remain the only unbeaten team in the Champions Trophy.

Striker Grant Schubert had a hat-trick by halftime as Australia poured on a remarkable five-goal first half against the world No.4 at Melbourne's State Hockey Centre.

The victory followed on from their 4-0 thumping of fifth-ranked South Korea in the tournament opener on Saturday.

Australia could seal a berth in next Sunday's final with just one more win in the round-robin tournament featuring the world's top six men's hockey nations.

Despite the comprehensive nature of the victory which puts them one win clear of their nearest rivals and with double the goal tally, the noises from the Kookaburras are anything but hearty laughter.

The relentless pursuit of excellence under coach Ric Charlesworth has seeped through to the players, who still found points to pick at following their rout of the Dutch.

"Still there were patches we could have been better and we need to get better, though it's always good to get seven goals in a game," captain Jamie Dwyer said.

"We've got a lot of players who have debuted for Australia this year and we've got a broad squad, and that's healthy for our program.

"There are some hard selection issues, but that's what we want. We want people to continue performing."

The Kookaburras were on the backfoot early against the team they most famously conquered in the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medal match.

Penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema struck for the Dutch in the third minute after brittle Australian defence allowed Teun de Nooijer to break on goal and force Mark Knowles to concede the short corner.

But the Kookaburras levelled up just five minutes later - Schubert converting a penalty stroke.

A reflex close-range goal from Glenn Turner gave Australia the lead before a well-worked penalty corner hammered home by Brent Dancer extended the gap to 3-1 on 22 minutes.

Australia extended their dominance just before halftime, when South Australian Schubert scored twice in 60 seconds from open play to give his side a 5-1 lead at halftime.

The Kookaburras went 6-1 up when Luke Doerner thumped in a penalty corner, before Dwyer buried the Dutch with a trick shot from the edge of the shooting circle with nine minutes remaining.

Australian goalkeeper Nathan Burgers iced the performance with a superb diving save from a Taekema drag flick late in the second half.

The Netherlands managed to pull back a consolation goal with two minutes remaining through Robbert (Robbert) Kemperman.

In Sunday's early match, Korea fought back from a goal down early in the second half to stun Olympic champions Germany 5-3.

In Sunday's late match, Spain drew 3-3 with England as both teams posted their first points of the tournament.

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