AUSTRALIA booked their place in this year’s FIL World Championships semi-finals with a fine 20-11 win over Scotland last night.
But the tournament third seeds were forced to fend off a spirited
figthback from Scotland as they looked to keep their own medal hopes
alive.
Ahead 9-2 Australia were cruising as they made an impressive start to
the match, with the victor earning themselves a coveted semi-final
showdown with Canada, the defending champions, this afternoon.
The Scottish, winners of the Turqouise group, bravely battled back and clawed within three goals of leveling at 11-8.
In fact Scotland scored three goals in just over a minute as
Australia were forced to call a time-out and address their problems.
And the break worked a treat as the men from Down Under raised their
game and netted three goals without reply with just 12 minutes remaining
to set up an enthralling finish.
Jordan McBride scored another goal to keep Scotland in the hunt, but
Australia added a further five goals as they made their experience count
when it mattered.
With victory a mouth-watering tie with Canada awaits, while the United States face Japan in this year’s other semi-final.
Adam Sear led the charge for Australia by top-scoring with five
goals, while James Galbraith-Watson was on target with four goals.
Anson Carter, Darren Nicholas and Alex Brown all netted hat-tricks,
with Will Pickett and Gareth Allen also found the back of the net.
Jordan McBride, Dan Heighway and David Gill scored hat-tricks for
Scotland as they gave it a real good go, with Ian Healey and Brendan
Healey also on the mark.
But Australia, having won the opening quarter 6-2 and the second 4-0
for a commanding 10-2 half-time lead, ultimately left their opponents
too much to do despite a brave comeback after the break.
