Kookaburras and Hockeyroos both beat Argentina

The Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos have turned their fortunes around in the Belgian leg of the FIH Pro League with twin wins over Argentina.

The Kookaburras came from behind to beat Argentina 4-3, while a 47th-minute strike from Penny Squibb got the Hockeyroos over the line 1-0.

The win for the Australian men came less than 48 hours after a 2-1 reverse to the South Americans.

Tom Wickham got Australia off to a flying start with a goal in the third minute.

But Argentina scored three of the next four goals to lead 3-2 midway through the second half.

Skipper Aran Zalewski set up striker Jeremy Hayward with an incredible ball which he slotted straight through Argentina’s goalie to score the equaliser in the 57th minute.

With the clock running down, Craig passed to prolific goal-scorer Blake Govers, whose perfectly-timed strike handed the Kookaburras their first win of the stage.

“There’s no better guy to have on the end of it,” said Craig of Govers, who has scored 144 goals in 157 internationals and is returning to international competition following an injury layoff after his last game at the FIH Pro League in February.

“It’s an Olympic year so teams just get sharper and sharper the closer it gets to the Olympics,” added Craig.

“I think starting probably with a couple of losses this leg definitely sent a bit of a rocket up us.

“We had a really good debrief of the first two games, came together really well on our rest day, and just wanted to put out a good 60 minutes and played right to the end, which was very pleasing.”

Earlier in the day in Antwerp, the Hockeyroos claimed a clutch 1-0 over Argentina, having also started the series with back-to-back losses.

It was a much-improved performance across the field as both Australia and Argentina battled to break the deadlock right up until the fourth quarter.

Player of the match Karri Somerville starred in defence for Australia.

Squibb’s match-winner came after the Hockeyroos earned a penalty corner a couple of minutes after the third break,

Both Australian teams will be back in action on Sunday night (early Monday AEST) against Belgium.