Australia’s men’s hockey side have been unable to repeat their unexpected dominance over the Netherlands, going down 5-2 to the clinical world No.1 in the FIH Pro League.
The Kookaburras last week embarrassed their hosts with a thumping 7-2 win in Eindhoven but three goals from the home side in the opening quarter on Monday had Australia playing catch-up throughout.
Strikes from Nathan Ephraums and Jeremy Hayward kept hopes up for the Kookaburras but they were unable to get a foothold against a Dutch side keen to make up for last week’s defeat.
There were two changes to Australia’s team from that famous victory, with Jake Whetton and Dylan Martin coming in for James Collins and Davis Atkin, while goalkeeper Ash Thomas made his first start.
The home side struck first in the seventh minute through a Timo Boers drag flick before Ephraums had the Kookaburras back on level terms three minutes later when he cooly fired home.
The goal was Ephraums’ sixth of the tournament.
However, stung by conceding seven at home, the Netherlands scored twice in quick succession to lead 3-1 going into the second quarter.
Hayward pulled one back in the 26th minute with a trademark drag flick to leave the game delicately poised heading into the second half.
Another expert finish from Duco Telgenkamp put the Netherlands back in the driver’s seat in the 36th minute and Boers scored his second with another successful drag flick to make it 5-2.
The Kookaburras head to Antwerp for two matches against reigning Olympic gold medallists Belgium to conclude their FIH Pro League 2022-23 campaign.
“It was a similar lesson to Friday but in reverse … efficiency on one side, inefficiency on the other,” Kookaburras midfielder Tom Craig said.
“It goes to show how close the top seven or eight teams in the world are at the moment … an eight-goal swing over the two games is a lot.”
“Consistency is the main learning we will take from here. Consistency, efficiency and getting our processes right.”
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