Netherlands 3 defeated Spain 2
Goals: NED - Matthijs Brouwer FG 10m FG 54m, Karel Klaver FG 56m; ESP - Sanit Freixa PC 60m, Eduard Tubau FG 64m
The Netherlands suffered another late defensive lapse before recovering to hold on and defeat Spain 3-2 in a crucial clash on day three.
For the second match in a row, the Dutch built a winning lead before conceding a pair of goals to give their opposition a chance. However where on Monday night their lapse led to a draw with Germany, they were able to recover in time against Spain to hold on and claim maximum points.
Spain needed a victory to keep in touch with the two leading teams but conceded an early goal to Matthijs Brouwer to hand the Netherlands the advantage.
Brouwer’s second goal after half time was quickly followed by Karel Klaver’s clinical conversion two minutes later, giving the Dutch a significant advantage with less than 15 minutes remaining.
However Spain responded with a pair of goals within four minutes but couldn’t convert a penalty corner chance on the stroke of half time and fell to a second consecutive loss.
Spain is now four points adrift of the Dutch with two matches remaining. They will need a series of positive results to keep their Champions Trophy title defence afloat.
Australia 4 defeated India 1
Goals: AUS – Nathan Eglington FG 1m FG 14m, Dean Butler FG 12m, Travis Brooks FG 20; IND – Tushar Khandekar FG 31m
Australia is almost assured of a berth in Sunday’s Champions Trophy final after a 4-1 in over India.
With two matches remaining before the final, Australia leads the field with a maximum of nine points and are in control of their own fate.
A four-goal first half was more than enough to end the Indian resistance, with Australia putting the home team on the back foot immediately with Nathan Eglington’s goal just 14 seconds into the match. Eglington’s goal was one of the fastest in Champions Trophy history and came before India, and the crowd had realised what had happened.
Dean Butler chimed into the attack and scored just his ninth goal in almost 140 matches
Eglington scored his second in the 14th minute and Australia led by three goals before a quarter of the match had expired.
Australia’s hunger for goals remained and Brent Livermore split the defence with a great ball to the advantage of Travis Brooks and he raced into the circle and fired low for a 4-0 lead.
The match became scrappy towards the end of the first half but Australia was always in charge on the pace and tempo, with India struggling to construct dangerous attacking movements.
Tushar Khandekar breathed life into the crowd and the match with a goal four minutes before the break but that was a far as the revival went as neither team could add to their tally in an unproductive second half.
Pakistan 4 drew Germany 4
Goals: PAK – Muhammad Imran PC 7m, Shakeel Abbasi FG 28m, Rehan Butt FG 34m, Muhammad Saqlain PS 67m; GER – Christopher Zeller PS 30m PS 60m, Carlos Nevado FG 30m, Jan Marco Montag PC 46m
In the last match of the day, Germany and Pakistan had the opportunity to get away from the bottom of the pool table but ended up splitting the points and remaining ranked 5th and 6th.
Pakistan got off to the better start and first made it onto the scoreboard in the 7th minute when Muhammad Imran sank a penalty corner with a simple direct flat hit.
The following 20 minutes were hard fought, and Germany had a slight edge and the better chances, but when the next goal happened, it was Pakistan again who celebrated when Shakeel Abbasi slid to tip in a pass from Imran Khan.
Already two down, Germany little later went for a double hit with Christopher Zeller converting a penalty stroke and Carlos Nevado scoring a field goal less than a minute later to level the score.
Pakistan pulled back however with a goal from Rehan Butt to go into halftime at an advantage.
The second half continued as fiercely disputed as the first, and after ten minutes, Germany drew level with a penalty corner from emerging new corner specialist Jan Marco Montag.
After some good opportunities on both sides that neither team could capitalize on, Germany got awarded another penalty stroke in the 60th minute, and it was Christopher Zeller again who coolly seized the opportunity, making himself the sole leader in the ranking of goal scorers.
Eight minutes later, yet another penalty stroke was awarded, this time to Pakistan, in a highly disputed call. The Greenshirts captain Muhammad Saqlain used the stroke to score the equalizer.
The draw does justice to the course of the match, and both teams will be equally relieved to have won a point and disappointed at only having won one point.
