Tri-nation hockey: Australia trounce India again

Australia blanked India 5-0 in the second leg match of the tri-nation tournament, in Burnbury, Australia, on Monday.

India played good hockey, especially in the second half, but their forwards were unable to score.

Kieran Govers set the pace for the hosts, scoring in the ninth minute off Australia's first penalty-corner. He then added another goal to his and the team's kitty by scoring the last of the four goals in the first half, in the 32nd minute.

In between Timothy Deavin (21st minute) and Russel Ford (25th) kept the scorer busy.

Aran Zalewski, who is from Margret River area, a suburb of Burnbury, made his international debut memorable on home turf, scoring the lone goal of the second half, in the 57th minute.

"I am happy with the way we played today, though I admit we should not have conceded easy goals in the first half. They played to a plan in the second half," said chief coach Michael Nobbs.

"The second half play told how much we have improved and this is exactly the position we seek to achieve," he added.

Meanwhile, Richard Charlesworth, his Australian counterpart, felt the absence of Luke Doerner affected the team's penalty-corners.

"He was ill and we couldn't play him," he said.

Speaking about the play in the second half, in which the Australians were subdued, Charlesworth complimented the Indian team but quickly added that he is trying a lot of things at the moment.

"I am giving chance to all the players at the moment and we are doing many things here. We lost some goal-scoring opportunities," he added.

India take on Pakistan on Tuesday before moving to Perth to play its last match of the tour.