Young aussies

FIH Hockey Pro League:  Australia’s inexperienced young team rallied from a defeat at the hands of Spain a day earlier to claim an unexpected 4-2 victory over Olympic champions the Netherlands in a FIH Hockey Pro League clash in Sydney on Thursday.

Later in the day, the Hockeyroos came up against China, playing to a 2-2 draw and then earning a bonus point with a win in the shootout.

The young Australians started the first quarter far better than their opening match on Wednesday and created a couple of early circle penetrations. The Dutch still exploited some big gaps in the Kookaburras’ structure and had repeated success with long probing passes and runs through the centre, goalkeeper Jed Snowden doing sterling work on four occasions to deny them through the first quarter.