Despite an Ashleigh Nelson goal that threatened a second half comeback, Australia’s Hockeyroos went down 3-1 to Argentina in the third and final Test in Perth on Tuesday evening.
In a match that celebrated the 350th international appearance of seven times World Player of the Year Luciana Aymar, it was her young teammate 20 year old Agustina Albertarrio whose two goals proved critical to securing the series win.
Albertarrio’s first, in the 27th minute, was a stunning strike that gave Rachael Lynch in the Australian goal little chance. And a scrambled goal 22 seconds before half time from Macarena Rodriguez put the Hockeyroos on the back foot going into the break 2-0 down.
But the hosts responded in the second half, enjoying better possession and halving the deficit through Ashleigh Nelson’s goal, swept home from close range with just under quarter of an hour remaining.
The goal boosted Australian hopes but just as it looked as if the Hockeyroos might grab a memorable equaliser Argentina counter attacked. Racing with pace towards the Australian goal, Albertarrio was on hand to convert a pulled-back pass from the left baseline to put the result beyond doubt at 3-1.
Hockeyroos Head Coach Adam Commens summed up the series and the match afterwards, saying, “We made good progress from game one to two but this evening we were a metre off on all of our contesting and just a little bit late. I thought that Argentina were sharper again; they really handled the ball beautifully tonight and showed why they’re one of the top teams in the world. I felt in the second half it was more of an even contest without us really threatening the goal too much. We got ourselves into a situation where we could get a result and it was disappointing that we let them out of the back pocket to concede a goal.
“All in all we gained a lot out of the series. We learned plenty about our players and which players are capable of mixing it with top teams. I think it tells us a lot moving towards Oceania Cup and World League selection and ultimately our World Cup squad.”
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Source: Hockey Australia
