Kookas In Spirited Fight-back
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday February 15, 2003
AUSTRALIA'S Olympic men's hockey campaign got off to a better-than-expected start last night when the Kookaburras held reigning Olympic champions the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw in the first of their five-Test series.
It was Australia's first match since September and the only time the two teams have met on Australian soil since the Sydney Olympics, when the Dutch destroyed the Kookaburras' gold medal chance in a semi-final penalty shootout.
The Dutch have just come off their domestic season and while they were arguably the fitter team, they struggled in the first half to contain Australia's strong midfield.
Tasmanian defender Matthew Wells opened the scoring in the 23rd minute off a penalty corner before Taeke Taekema equalised just before the halftime siren.
In the second stanza, Australia managed to save six Dutch attempts at penalty corners.
© 2003 Illawarra Mercury