AUSTRALIA THRASH YOUNG TIGERS 9-3

The national under-21 squad led by I. Vikneswaran lost 3-9 to Australia in their fifth match of the 2024 Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium on Friday.

The defeat is one of the heaviest for the national squad in the history of the SOJC, and Vikneswaran admitted that his players were nervous facing world-class opponents like Australia.

"The players were a little stunned against Australia. Some of the goals conceded could actually have been avoided because they were easy goals for the opponent.

"Today's match also gave Khairul Amirin the opportunity to play as the main goalkeeper, because if not, when else will he be able to gain important experience before playing in the Junior Asia Cup in November?

"I did expect Australia to be aggressive against us even though they didn't start the SOJC well this time. So our players need to learn how to play against opponents like them," said Vikneswaran during the post-match press conference on Friday.

Australia scored twice in the first three minutes, through a field goal by Liam Henderson in the second minute and a penalty corner by Dylan Downey in the third.

Two more goals followed in the first quarter, through Ian Grobbelaar's penalty corner in the seventh minute and a field goal by Jesse Absolom, giving Australia a comfortable 4-0 lead after the first 15 minutes.

Malaysia pulled one back through a Muhammad Danish Danial field goal in the 24th minute, after a scramble in Australia's D saw the defence fail to clear the ball from the danger area.

The goal lifted the national players' morale, and a second followed through a penalty corner by Aziudin Kamarudin in the 29th minute.

Australia then breached Malaysia's defence again, through captain Toby Mallon in the 33rd minute and Daykin Stanger in the 37th minute, to lead 6-2.

The young national team narrowed the gap again through a penalty corner by Harris Osman in the 50th minute, but Henderson scored his second goal of the match from a penalty stroke in the 53rd minute to make it 7-3.

Two minutes later, Patrick Andrew compounded Malaysia's misery with a field goal for Australia's eighth, before Lucas Toonen added the ninth in the final minute of the match.

The win sends Australia to Saturday's final against Great Britain, while New Zealand face India for third-fourth place and Malaysia meet Japan for fifth-sixth place.

In Friday's earlier matches, New Zealand drew 3-3 with India and Great Britain beat Japan 3-1.