Field goals in the second half by Glenn Turner and Tristan White have given the Kookaburras a 2-0 victory over the Belgium Red Lions in a Champions Trophy clash at London's Queen Elizabeth Park.
The Belgium team began the match with sustained attacking pressure, scoring the opportunity for a penalty corner five minutes in but Andrew Charter kept the ball out of the net.
After that the first two quarters were largely uneventful, with both teams failing to score.
The third quarter began with an early shot on penalty corner for Belgium but the Red Lions were unable to convert to a goal.
They followed up with another penalty corner opportunity only minutes later but again the Australian defence was too good.
In the 38th minute of the game, the first goal of the match finally came to Turner after a deflection from Aran Zalewski.
In the 49th minute White extended Australia's lead with another field goal.
The Red Lions had two opportunities on penalty corners with only minutes to go in the game, but the Kookaburras defence kept them at bay.
"It was a good lesson for us. We didn't wake up until the second quarter of the game, and then we started to play a bit better," Head Coach Graham Reid said.
"The numbers behind the scene weren't good for us tonight, whereas normally they are. They're usually a sign that we create a lot of opportunities and that we don't give too many away but tonight was opposite."
White said the first quarter was tough against "big, strong guys and they kind of put it to us".
"We worked hard and were able to run over the top in the end so it was really pleasing."
The Kookaburras next play India on Thursday.
Share
