The Kookaburras have continued their preparation for the 2008 Champions Trophy after scoring the last four goals of their match against Belgium to record a convincing victory.

The match was their second against Belgium this week (first match resulted in 5-0 victory to Kookaburras) and the team will now leave for the Netherlands full of confidence to perform well at the Champions Trophy.

Luke Doerner continued his good recent form by handing the Kookaburras an early lead after converting a penalty corner conversion in the third minute.

However Belgium soon hit back, demonstrating exactly why they have qualified for the upcoming Beijing Olympics to score two unanswered goals within seven minutes to take the lead.

This buoyed the Kookaburras into action, and when Eli Matheson and Travis Brooks scored two late goals prior to half time, they had regained the lead.

The Kookaburras continued this form into the second half, not only keeping Belgium scoreless for the half but also adding two more goals via another goal the Matheson and Grant Schubert.

Kookaburras coach Barry Dancer said he is pleased with the team's preparation ahead of the Champions Trophy.

'We did not control the game as well as in our first match against Belgium but as the game progressed we improved our defensive organization and the effectiveness of our passing game. The vast majority of our playing group will have gained good confidence in preparation for the Champions Trophy tournament as a result of these performances.' Said Dancer. 

Kookaburras 5 Belgium 2 (3-2 half time)
Goals - Aus Doerner 3m PC, Bel Vandeweghe 12m FG, Bel Gucassoff 19m PC, Aus Matheson 23m FG/ 36m FG, Aus Brooks 30m FG, Aus Schubert 58m PC

Source: Hockey Australia


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