London: The Indian women’s hockey team were dealt a narrow 1–2 loss by Australia in their FIH Hockey Pro League 2024/25 (Women) match at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on Sunday.
Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (3’) scored the only goal for India while Amy Lawton (37’) and Lexie Pickering (60’) were the goalscorers for Australia. India took an early lead in the proceedings but Australia made a comeback with a goal in the final minute of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
India made a bright start to the game as they won three back-to-back penalty corners in the very first minute, adding pressure on the Australian backline. India carried on their momentum and scored the opening goal as early as the third minute to take charge of the match. Navneet Kaur carried the ball forward and passed it to Sharmila Devi on the left who played it to the far post for Vaishnavi as she deflected the ball into the net.
India continued to pile on the pressure as Navneet came close to extending the lead but narrowly missed the target. Minutes later, Australia won two back-to-back penalty corners towards the end of the first quarter but India did well at the back to maintain their lead.
Australia improved their performance in the second quarter and started creating good goalscoring chances. Both sides exchanged possession and battled it out in the midfield but they couldn’t be separated in the second quarter as India headed into the second half with a goal in hand.
Australia were more dominant in the third quarter and caused troubles for the Indian defence. Greta Hayes came teasingly close to scoring a goal as she struck a shot towards an empty net, however, the ball was stopped by her own teammate by accident.
In the 37th minute, Australia were on the attack again but this time, they managed to find the equaliser courtesy of a brilliant goal from Amy Lawton. Amy did well to win the ball from an Indian defender and then unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the circle, past the keeper into the bottom right corner.
The scores were level as both sides headed into the final quarter of the match. India received a penalty corner but the Australian keeper made a strong save to keep her side in the contest. In the 54th minute, India won four penalty corners in a row but they couldn’t manage to find the net. In their third attempt, Neha fired a shot which took a deflection and struck the post, missing the net by a few inches.
With 34 seconds left on the clock, Australia converted a penalty corner to complete their comeback in the match. Tatum Stewart played the perfect pass to Lexie Pickering on the right as she took the Indian goalkeeper off-guard and deflected the ball into the net to claim all three points.
India will take on Argentina on June 17 at the same venue.
(IANS)
