World Championships - England squeeze past Australia
England needed golden goal extra time to see off Australia
13-12 in their latest World Championships match today.
Australia elected to play with their strongest team, having
rested several players in the previous game against the Czech
Republic. England, meanwhile, took the court with some of
the players who had not yet enjoyed much game time.
England started patiently in attack, using the height of
their male players to recycle the ball for several shots.
At the other end, Sot Vardas suffered an unfortunate ankle
injury under the post in the first three minutes, and had
to be replaced by Clinton Bryan, but if anything this seemed
to inspire the Australians, with Jessica May scoring the resulting
free pass, and then another, to take Australia 2-0 ahead.
Ross Bower replied with a back court shot for England, quickly
followed by a runner, and England went ahead for the first
time with an elegant long shot from Rob Mann. The two teams
traded long shots, and there was little to choose between
them, with neither looking particularly fluent in attack.
The English were retaining possession for longer, but Australia
were taking what chances they did construct with greater accuracy,
with their female players especially dangerous from the free
pass spot, and James Tye scoring from distance. England struggled
to find the korf from long or short range, and eventually
Australia took a 7-5 lead, though another Rob Mann long shot
brought the margin back to just one in the final seconds of
the first half.
After half time England brought on Dave Synott to try to
secure the rebound, and this initially seemed to give their
players confidence in their shots, with Rob Mann and Ross
Bower both scoring their third goals to take England ahead
8-7. However, Australia quickly equalised with another James
Tye long shot, and this scrappy battle was far from over.
Australia’s rebound defence proved effective at frustrating
their opponents, while Jessica May was able to drive through
the English defence to win a penalty and regain the lead for
Australia, closely followed by Jeremy Harris with a running
in shot. England made two more substitutions, but the game
remained deadlocked at 10-10. England’s penalty nightmare
continued, with yet another miss, but Natasha Dawson sank
a mid range goal, only for Jeremy Harris to equalise with
some quick thinking under the post. Otto Fabius looked to
have sealed the game for England with a long shot on 58 minutes,
but Australia’s fighting spirit is legendary and with
20 seconds left on the clock, Wendy Kenbeek equalised with
a drop off shot.
For the second time in this tournament, England headed for
a golden goal decider. Having learnt from the previous golden
goal against the Czechs, this time England played a tactical
strategy, recycling the ball time and time again. After eight
minutes of extra time it seemed this game might have to go
to penalties, but finally Kathryn Goodridge was able to take
advantage of a mix up in the Australian defence under the
korf, and slotted the ball home from one metre, to seal a
13-12 win for England.
England's next playoff match will be against Russia on Thursday,
now in the larger Vodova hall, and again will be streamed
live on www.korfball.tv. A win will see England playing off
for 5th and 6th place, a loss for 7th and 8th.
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