Australia reign supreme in women’s hockey

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Sydney: Australia reinforced their status as the greatest women's hockey side in history with a 3-1 win over Argentina in the gold medal match on Friday.

Inspired by brilliant play from former captain Rechelle Hawkes, Claire Mitchell-Taverner and Nikki Hudson, Australia added the Sydney 2000 title to their victories in Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta four years ago.

Australia dominated the match from the outset, opening the scoring in the 10th minute through Alyson Annan and extending their lead to 2-0 when Juliet Haslam scored in the 26th minute.

A penalty corner conversion by Jenny Morris three minutes into the second half made it 3-0, before Vanina Oneto got one back for Argentina in the 44th minute.

The win was the perfect send-off for coach Ric Charlesworth, who has overseen an unprecedented era of success in the last six years.

Playing in her fourth Olympics, Hawkes joined swimmer Dawn Fraser and equestrian Andrew Hoy as the only Australians to have won three gold medals.

Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 in the bronze medal play-off. Despite losing Margje Teeuwen with a twisted ankle and Fleur van de Kieft to a yellow card, the Dutch kept a stranglehold on the game throughout.

Netherlands got away to a great, scoring after 10 minutes when Mijntje Donners worked her way into the circle and won a penalty corner, which Ageeth Boomgaardt converted.

Netherlands put the result beyond doubt 12 minutes later when Van der Vaart and Minke Smabers combined to set up captain Carol Thate.



(c) Reuters Limited.