International

Colin Hennessey struck thrice as Australia trounced Belgium 7-1 to move into the second round while England blanked Mexico 12-0 to record their first win and South Korea upset the applecart of Spain 3-1 in the the Junior World Cup hockey here today.

Australia, the 1997 champions, became the first team in the competition to enter the second round after their second successive victory. They had demolished Chile 12-0 in the opener.

England had lost their first match to Spain 0-1 yesterday.

This was South Korea's second win and sees them through to the next round.

Belgium were not meant to challenge Australia at the Rotterdam Hockey Club but the Belgians, who have been trying to build up a foundation in their country did well enough to hold the Australians down to a 3-1 lead at the break.

Looking at the fact that the Aussies scored in the 2nd and 5th minutes through Colin Hennessey and Lain Davidson, the Belgians didn't crack at the back and actually defended well.

In the 29th minute they cut the scores down to 1-2 when Jerome Truyens powered in a penalty corner. With seconds to go for the break, Colin fired in his second field goal to have the Aussies lead 3-1.

After the break, Australia scored four more goals. Aussie captain Mark Knowles (38th) scored a brilliant field goal and then Colin got his third of the match in the 53rd minute as Belgium stared at a 5-1 Australia lead.

In the 61st minute, after a relatively quiet period, the Australian forwards struck when Daniel Hotchkins smashed in a goal from an acute angle.

The winners rounded off the tally with their seventh goal in the 69th minute with a Desmond Abbott goal.

Colin Hennessey took his tally to seven goals in two matches.

He had scored four goals against Chile.

In another match, Simon Mantell and Darren Cheesman shared six goals as England thrashed Mexico 12-0 to collect full points.

It turned out to be a no contest as Mexico floundered, unable to come to grips as the English midfield produced an impeccable performance.

Mexico's defence was completely at sea as England scored all their goals through field attempts.

The scorers were Richard Lane (9th), Darren Cheeseman (13th, 32nd, 44th), Simon Mantell (15th, 21st, 65th), Ashley Jackson (17th, 48th), Warren D’Souza (26th, 47th) and Andrew Watts (62nd).

Meanwhile, South Korea produced the first big upset of the tournament beating the number one seed and the hot favourite for the title, Spain 3-1 in a Pool A match. Korea's win gives them six points after two wins and also sends them into the second round.

South Korea started slowly but gained momentum in the second half which they completely dominated to clinch the match.

For Korea, penalty corner specialist, Jang Jong Hyun scored twice in the 28th and 52nd minute. With six minutes left in the match, Korea wrapped it up with a field goal from Kim Young Jin.

Spain got their only goal in the 48th minute when their captain David Alegre squeezed past two Korean defenders to shoot home.

Rate This Article

Select Here  5 Stars  (Best Rating)   4 Stars   3 Stars   2 Stars   1 Star  (Worst Rating)

Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.