In the second match on Thursday, Netherlands defeated Australian women 2-1 to go through to finals of the 2016 version of Champions Trophy. In the final, they’ll compete with Argentina who are already in the finals after their show against Black Sticks.
Into the match against the Hockeyroos, Michelle van der Pols gave the Netherlands a sixth minute lead with a field goal before team captain Maartje Paumen doubled the advantage with her sixth penalty corner goal in just four matches. Kathryn Slattery was on target for the Hockeyroos, who were hugely competitive throughout.
Speaking in the post match, with media, Netherlands star Lidewij Welten said, “We played well, but there is always room for improvement.”
Further, she added, “Our aim is to get better with each game, that is our group mentality. It is good for us to play Australia in a tournament like the Champions Trophy because we don’t get to play them so often. They didn’t surprise us today as we know they want to be fast and attacking, although today neither of us could play our true games.”
Hockeyroos captain Madonna Blyth said: “We played pretty well for parts of that game. We created good opportunities and put the Dutch under a lot of pressure. There are still a lot of things that we can improve upon, but we are strong as a unit and I am happy with the way we are going.”