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Hockeyroos make it two on the trot with win over Argentina

With 130 caps to her name, Emily Smith is one of the Hockeyroos' experienced players (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Expert
11th August, 2016
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Australia’s Hockeyroos have claimed their second win in a row, defeating Argentina 1-0 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Friday morning.

It was a game of hard-running defence and excellent work by the keepers at both ends that ultimately led to a low-scorer.

Two key moments in the third quarter proved to define the game. The first came when Emily Smith slotted the only goal of the match in the opening minutes of the second half, with a pair of clever taps that saw the ball bounce off Argentina’s goalkeeper Belen Succi and into the net.

» Re-live the game with our live blog

The second came towards the end of the quarter, when Argentina was given a penalty stroke but an excellent left-foot save by Rachael Lynch prevented Australia losing its 1-0 advantage.

Argentina arguably had the better of the two sides after Australia scored their goal, but just weren’t able to put anything through, and ultimately finished the match without a goal of their own, the Australians taking the win.

The result means Australia will almost certainly lock up third place in the pool, so long as they are able to get a win over Japan on Sunday morning in their final game of the pools stage.

Argentina, on the other, hand will still likely progress through to the quarter-finals so long as they beat India in their last match of the pools stage.

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All things considered, it’s been an excellent recovery for Australia after losing their first two matches against Great Britain and the USA, with 1-2 scorelines in both.

They defeated India 6-1 yesterday before recording this important win today, and now have a day off before their next match.

With a quarter-finals berth locked in, the Hockeryoos can now dare to dream of a medal – something that looked a long way off two days ago. The chance to redeem themselves against Great Britain or the USA may be on offer too.

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