Champions Trophy hockey: Australians seek revenge against Dutch

December 7th, 2011 - 11:52 pm ICT by IANS  

Auckland, Dec 7 (IANS) Defending champions Australia will look for revenge when they face fellow medal contenders the Netherlands in hockey’s Champions Trophy Thursday.

The Dutch inflicted a 6-1 defeat on an under-strength Kookaburras side during a Four Nations tournament in Germany, and 122-cap defender Fergus Kavanagh is among those who haven’t forgotten that July encounter.

“That was the first time I’ve lost a match by such a big deficit,” the 31-year-old West Australian said.

“We hadn’t been shown up like that for a long time and it put us back in our place. I think a lot of us will be looking back on that game with a bit of revenge and bit of a extra meaning.”

The Kookaburras did beat the Dutch 2-0 in a warm-up last week, but Kavanagh said not much could be read into practice games, especially given that the opposition on that day were still shaking off the effects of travel.

In another match Spain and New Zealand meet Thursday, having progressed to the medal phase of the tournament from different pools.

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