The telling third quarter only yielded two goals while the final eight minutes produced an avalanche of six goals. In other games, China women demolished Japan 22-6 while undefeated Japan men dumped Iran 17-9 after a torrid third-quarter fightback by Iran.

Iran won the third period 5-4 but the fire dimmed in the final quarter to allow Japan to get away and remain undefeated like Australia, setting up a wonderful clash tomorrow.

Standings:
FINA World League, Asia-Oceania round, Adelaide, day 2:
Men: AUS 6, JPN 6, NZL 0, IRI 0.
Women: AUS 6, CHN 3, JPN 0, NZL 0.

Game 5, 13:30, Women, China 22 Japan 6
Quarters: 5-2, 5-1, 5-2, 7-1
CHINA: YANG Jun, TENG Fei (3), LIU Ping, SUN Yujun (2), HE Jin (1), SUN Huizi (1), QIAO Leiying (2), GAO Ao (5), WANG Yi (3), MA Huanhuan (2), CHEN Yuan (3), ZHU Yajing, WANG Ying. Head Coach: PAN Shenghua.
JAPAN: Tikako MIURA, Yoko MARUKAWA (2), Saki OGAWA, Yuka TAKIGAWA, Yuki OKAMURA, Sayaka OKAWARA, Yoko KIMURA, Moe TSUMORI (1), Shino MAGARIYAMA (2), Chie YASUMOTO, Misa KONAKA (1), Nao YOSHIDA, Yumi KANNO. Head Coach: Yoshifumi SAITO.

Following a loss to Australia yesterday, China came out strongly against Japan, shooting to 4-0 and then cruising away with the match.  Japan defended hard but the superior strength and shooting power of China proved insurmountable. Gao Ao, who has just finished a season with the champion Brisbane Barracudas in the Australian national league, feasted on the opportunity to score goals, bagging five. The main resistance from Japan came via Magariyama with one goal in each of the first three periods. While many shots were coming from outside, China was dominant in centre forward and unlucky not to collect more goals from there. The best goal from the two metres by Japan came at 1:12 in the last when a rebound was snapped in by Tsumori.

CHN vs JPN

Game 6, 15:00, Women, Australia 14 New Zealand 0
Quarters: 3-0, 3-0, 2-0, 6-0
AUSTRALIA: Alicia McCORMACK, Holly LINCOLN-SMITH (1), Glencora RALPH (2), Rebecca RIPPON (3), Nicola ZAGAME (1), Bronwen KNOX (3), Rowena WEBSTER (2), Kate GYNTHER (1), Sarah MILLS (1), Jemma DESSAUVAGIE, Melissa RIPPON, Sophie SMITH, Victorian BROWN. Head Coach: Greg McFADDEN.
NEW ZEALAND: Carina HARACHE, Emily COX, Sam SCHUBERT, Amy LOGAN, Lynlee SMITH, Ashley SMALLFIELD, Lauren SIEPRATH, Anna SIEPRATH, Kelly MASON, Kirsten HUDSON, Jasmine MYLES, Dana HARVEY, Head Coach: Todd CLAPPER.

The Aussie Stingers really stung New Zealand with a shut-out match. It wasn’t fast or terribly exciting to watch but it was a game Australia had to win. As Australian head coach McFadden said: “I don’t know whether they were saving themselves fort he world championships or their next match against China.” McFadden blamed the pace of the game for players not getting into a rhythm. “The pace was too slow for the players to get into a rhythm and when the opportunities arose we were too slow or rushed things. However, toward the end of the game we scored some nice goals.” Both goalkeepers had an excellent game and none more so than Harache for New Zealand, stopping a Mills penalty attempt. Brown’s task became harder in the dying moments as she successfully defended the zip score. Australia’s extra-man count was not sharp at three from eight and missing the penalty. New Zealand missed all nine attempts.

AUS vs NZL - Women

Game 7, 16:30, Men, Australia 12 New Zealand 3
Quarters: 5-2, 3-0, 1-1, 3-0
AUSTRALIA: James STANTON, Billy MILLER (1), Tim CLELAND (1), Nick O’HALLORAN, Steve LEWIS (1), Anthony MARTIN (1), Aidan ROACH (3), Aaron YOUNGER, Daniel STREETS, David WILL (1), Rhys HOWDEN (3), Daniel LAWRENCE (1), Luke QUINLIVAN. Head Coach: John FOX.
NEW ZEALAND: John LOVE, Josh POTAKA, Joseph KAYES (2), Jono ROSS (1), Conor LUI, Dan JACKSON, Matt REID, Eamon LUI, Richard SMALL, Lachy TIJSEN, Kiran DAVIS, Sam WILLIAMS. Head Coach: Jason HUNT.

The Aussie Sharks held all the markers and used them to beat New Zealand. The first quarter started at breath-taking speed with the game 3-2 in the Aussies’ favour at one stage. But two quick goals had the Kiwis three behind by the break. The scoring dried up for the Trans-Tasman neighbour as the Sharks were made to work for every goal. Stanton proved a handful in the first half and Quinlivan continued the goalies’ trend in the second half. Love also added to the flavour of the game with some brilliant saves that kept the Sharks without a meal at times. The goal of the game came from Roach, playing just his second international, at the end of the first quarter when he received the ball at halfway and under the feet of the referee, sending the ball into the bottom right corner on the buzzer. The Kiwis dragged one back on extra in the last second of the third period. Further goals were hard to come by but the Kiwis played far better than the opening day with head coach Hunt saying his team was more committed, played harder and gained a “fairly good result”.


AUS vs NZL - Men

Game 8, 18:00, Men, Japan 18 Iran 9
Quarters: 4-0, 2-2, 4-5, 8-2
JAPAN: Hitoshi OSHIMA, Kan IREI (4), Akira YANASE, Mitsuaki SHIGA (1), Hiroki WAKAMATSU (1), Masatoshi SOMEYA (1), Yusuke SHIMIZU (4), Atsushi NAGANUMA (1), Keigo OKAWA (1), Yoshinori SHIOTA (1), Hiroshi HOSHIAI, Satoshi NAGATA (1), Shota HAZUI (1). Head Coach: Goran SABLIC.
IRAN: Alireza SHAHIDIPOUR, Arsalan MARDANI, Seyed MIR MEHDI (4), Mohsen JALILI, Mehdi TEIRAN, Ali PIROZKHAH (1), Mahdi EMAD, Soheil KHADEMPIR, Mahdi KARAMIZARANDI (1), Yashar SOLTANI (2), Sajad ABDIHANJANI, Amir KHANI (1), Meisam JAFARI. Head Coach: Neven KOVACEVIC.

This was probably the most exciting game of the day with Japan looking a touch of class better than Iran in the first half but Iran had different ideas in the third quarter. While Japan was composed in the first half, Iran unsettled its opponent and peppered the goalmouth, winning the period 5-4. Mir Mehdi went on fire with four goals while Japan struck back when needed to preserve a three-goal margin heading into the last. Former Croatian coach Kovacevic’s charges had fire in their belly and were backed by a handful of Iranian, flag-waving supporters, but it was dowsed at the start of the fourth as Japan fired in two goals in as many minutes and had two more by 4:05 for an unassailable 14-7 lead. Japan’s Shiga had a horror penalty attempt in the first quarter, dropping the ball behind him on the whistle. Iran’s Soltani blasted the wood on his penalty attempt at the end of the third, which could have narrowed the margin to two.

JPN vs IRI

Photos credit : Russell McKinnon