The Orange Men ended the Australian block of this FIH Pro League season Sunday morning with a 4-4 draw against the home team. The Orange seemed hopeless in Sydney after trailing 4-1 in the third quarter, but an impressive catch-up race still got the Orange a point in regular playing time. That reward got a double via the shoot-outs won.
The tie and victory in the shoot-outs caused happy faces in the Dutch camp. After all, as No. 1 in the world after the success of Paris 2024, you always want to show that you are the best. Even though only half of the eighteen players that national coach Jeroen Delmée sent into the field Sunday morning in Sydney have a gold Olympic medal in the cupboard at home. The others – mostly young talents – can still only dream of it.
That they are there during the trip in Australia indicates that they have a chance to be there in Los Angeles 2028, according to Delmée. But the road is still long and the competition is fierce. Much of that competition was missing on the other side of the world, partly because of rest and partly because of participation in the Hockey India League.
This allowed the national coach to call up a large group of talented youngsters to fly with him to the other side of the world. There the coach and his staff trained a lot with his new talents and they played twice against Spain (two wins) and Australia (4-2 defeat and draw). Even before the last game against Australia, Delmée was satisfied with the trip: “We got a lot of information about the new players. We know we have a lot of potential. To really see what they can do, you have to play matches.’
Joy among the Orange Men and their fans after grabbing a bonus point against Australia in Sydney during the FIH Pro League. Photo: WORLDSPORTPICS.COM/ Craig Clifford
Delightful start
The national coach saw the Orange start off nicely against Australia, getting two penalty corners within a minute. Both went awry due to wrong stops by Justen Blok at the head of the circle. At the other end, Australia also got a great chance right away. Craig Marais took advantage of a wrong cross from Tijmen Reyenga. Fortunately for the Dutch, Maurits Visser saved skilfully.
The wonderful start of the Pro League game – which was played under ideal summer conditions – continued in the remainder of the first quarter. The game went up and down, with the Netherlands being the dominant party. Delmée’s team showed really good field hockey at times and – as in the first game with Australia this week – got several chances. After seven minutes, the first was taken advantage of by Derck de Vilder. The midfielder passed Corey Weyer as if he wasn’t there and with a beautiful stick movement slid the 0-1 behind Australian goalkeeper Mitch Nicholson.
Derck de Vilder beautifully scores the 0-1 for the Orange. Photo: WORLDSPORTPICS.COM/ Craig Clifford
A deserved lead that was nearly doubled just before the end of the first quarter. After a one-two and a lovely pass from Miles Bukkens, Terrance Pieters saw the ball go just past the wrong side of the post.
Two goals in two minutes
So the game and the score looked comfortable for the Orange at the beginning of the second quarter, but that changed. Orange was stronger at first, but over the course of Q2, Australia recovered in well-filled Olympic field hockey stadium. The Netherlands struggled and came under pressure. A goal was inevitable. It came from the stick of Jeremy Hayward, one of the familiar faces with the Kookaburras who are building a new team after the failed Paris Games. Hayward’s push was low and hard: 1-1.
Lucas Veen in action against Australia. Photo: WORLDSPORTPICS.COM/ Craig Clifford
Barely recovered from that setback, 2-1 was on the boards. The home team scored again from a penalty corner, this time it was a variant. Visser saved the effort, but the rebound was for Benjamin White who tapped the ball into the empty goal. Two goals against, in two minutes. That shouldn’t happen to an Olympic champion. So did Delmée, who pointed out during the halftime interview that his team had not done well in the second quarter. ‘We let Australia get back into the game. We can be blamed for that. They took good advantage of that, were effective with the penalty corners and were rightly ahead because of that,’ Delmée spoke in front of the FIH cameras.
Crash
The successful national coach indicated things needed to be different. No doubt he did the same to his team at halftime, but they made the same mistake in the third quarter. A necessary save by Visser at the beginning of the third quarter led to another penalty corner. Again, there was Hayward who, with a copy of the first Australian goal, pushed the ball hard and low between Visser and the line stop. The sound of the ball on the board caused cheers in Olympic Park: 3-1.
The thousands there enjoying a beautiful game of field hockey in the Australian Sunday night had reason to raise their hands again a few minutes later. After a nice and fast counter, Benjamin White rammed the ball hard into the long corner out of reach of Visser. That 4-1 seemed to be the final blow for the Orange Men.
Middendorp
However, they did not give up easily despite the big deficit. With a full press, the Orange players went on the hunt for success. The youngsters were led by Floris Middendorp. At times the Amsterdam midfielder showed unparalleled field hockey with delightful 3D-actions in the circle of the Kookaburras.
The Dutch put the home team under pressure and reduced the deficit from three to one goal within five minutes. First, Pepijn van der Heijden exploited a penalty corner, then Miles Bukkens (after a delightful pass from Koen Beijn) made it 4-3.
Pepijn van der Heijden scores the 4-4. Photo: WORLDSPORTPICS.COM/ Craig Clifford
The Netherlands then put the home team with their backs against the wall. It rained chances and penalty corners for the Olympic champion. The “Holland, Holland” echoed through Olympic Park from the Orange fans who once again crowded the seats in the iconic field hockey stadium in large numbers. Another goal was bound to happen. And that this equalizer fell from a penalty corner was no surprise either.
Once again it was the young Rotterdam corner specialist Van der Heijden, one of the discoveries of the Australia trip, who scored with a beautiful, high drag: 4-4.
In the necessary shout-outs, the Dutch rewarded the amazing comeback with a bonus point, winning 3-1 over the now dejected Aussies. During the long trip back to the Netherlands, the Orange players will have plenty of time to reflect on this entertaining Pro League game.
Australia – Netherlands* 4-4 (2-1)
7. Derck de Vilder 0-1
27. Jeremy Hayward 1-1 (sc)
28. Benjamin White 2-1 (sc)
34. Jeremy Hayward 3-1 (sc)
36. Benjamin White 4-1
47. Pepijn van der Heijden 4-2 (sc)
50. Miles Bukkens 4-3 (sc)
57. Pepijn van der Heijden 4-4 (sc)
*Netherlands wins after shoot-outs (1-3)
Watch highlights of the FIH Pro League match between Australia and the Netherlands below.
by Hockey.nl
