The Kookaburras have advanced to the semi-finals of the Hockey World League Final with a 4-1 win over Germany that was set up in the opening five minutes when Jeremy Hayward and Jamie Dwyer scored in quick succession.
Australia will now meet the Netherlands on Saturday morning AEDT in Raipur, India, for a place in the final.
Hayward scored after just four minutes from a penalty corner before a flat tomahawk pass by Matthew Swann was met by a clever near-post deflection by Dwyer a minute later.
Suddenly Australia were 2-0 up in the quarter-final clash against Olympic champions Germany and Kookaburras head coach Graham Reid later said the lightning start was planned.
“It was part of our strategy to try and make sure everyone started well,” he said after the win.
“It makes such a difference when you can do that.
“I don’t want to get too carried away though. Germany had as many opportunities as us in the first quarter – we were just able to put ours away.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Charter’s save from Oskar Deecke’s penalty stroke and Matthew Dawson’s penalty corner goal on 27 minutes put the Kookaburras well in command before half time.
Despite dominating third-quarter possession, Australia’s defence was breached for the only time in the match when Christopher Ruhr knocked home an overhead forehand more commonly seen in tennis on 40 minutes.
Glenn Turner rounded off the goal scoring in the dying seconds as he rolled home into an unguarded net with Germany having withdrawn their goalkeeper after being reduced to 10 men through suspension.
Earlier, the Netherlands overcame Canada 2-0 in the first quarter-final.
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