Great Britain’s teams were denied in their opening FIH Pro League matches after an Australia late assault in sweltering Sydney on Saturday.
GB men shipped two goals in the final four minutes as the Kookaburras levelled and then won a shoot-out while GB women surrendered a goal 12 seconds from time to lose out to the Hockeyroos.
The men earned a point against the world No 1 outfit but would have hoped for more having led 4-2 at the start of the final quarter.
This after searing temperatures triggered the FIH’s inclement weather procedure to give players additional rest during the game, and breaks midway through the first and second quarter.
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Zach Wallace scored a brilliant individual goal for Danny Kerry’s side while Rupert Shipperley swept home on his debut.
Ashley Jackson and Liam Ansell also found the back of the net, while Harry Gibson made several fine saves in goal.
A goal 12 seconds from the end denied the women the same result having dominated for large swathes of the match against the Hockeyroos.
Sarah Robertson had given her team the lead in the 18th minute before Steph Kershaw equalised shortly before half-time.
Australia v Great Britian (RR)
Picture:
WORLDSPORTPICS COPYRIGHT ANJ MARINER
Both teams had chances to win in the closing stages but it was Grace Stewart who struck to give the hosts all three points.
Lily Owsley said: “Looking at where we’ve come from since last year, I’m really proud of where we’ve got to. It’s been a tough year and we’ve really come out of it. I think we deserved to win that, we created a lot of chances.”
Hockeyroos goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram was named player of the match.
Australia men found themselves on the brink of defeat before eventually claiming two points from a possible three by winning a shoot-out against Great Britain after regular time finished with the scores locked at 4-4.
Great Britain turing a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead before late goals from Aran Zalewski and Trent Mitton sent the game into a shoot-out.
Alan Forsyth was the only scorer for GB, with Jake Whetton, Flynn Ogilvie and Jake Harvie on target as the Kookaburras nicked the bonus point.
The teams lock horns again on Sunday.
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