07.08.2012

The Australian men’s water polo team, the Aussie Sharks, have booked a place in the quarterfinals of the London Olympics after recording an emphatic 13-8 win over Greece at the Water Polo Arena in London.

A vastly improved Sharks outfit led from start to finish as they converted an impressive 85 per cent in extra man to secure their first Olympic quarterfinal appearance since Sydney 2000.

In what was a do or die fixture for both teams, the Sharks got off to a slow start with captain Sam McGregor conceding two major fouls in the opening minute.

Not to be overawed, consecutive extra man opportunities earned by Jamie Beadsworth at centre forward and a clinical conversion from the Western Australian, saw Australia level at 1-1.

Fellow centre forward star Gavin Woods then converted a pin point pass from Johnno Cotterill to give Australia a one goal lead, before Rhys Howden thundered a brilliant outside strike to hand Australia a 3-2 advantage at quarter time.

Australia extended their advantage in the second term with Richie Campbell and Howden peppering the Greek cage, both converting from outside five metres to give Australia the momentum.

Howden, playing in front of a vocal Aussie crowd led by his extended family - his father Phil a former captain of Great Britain – continued his great play at the Olympics netting two first half goals on his way to a hat-trick.

Beadsworth and Campbell also netted a second time as the Sharks led 8-5 at the main break to raise hopes of a potential medal playoff game.

Howden got his treble early in the third term with another individual laser and when Aaron Younger got his first of the tournament in extra man the Aussies were up 10-5.

Four-time Olympian Thomas Whalan then scored to give Australia a six goal lead before the Greeks clawed one back towards the end of the quarter to leave Australia ahead 11-6 with a period to play.

The Sharks’ defence was equally impressive with Tim Cleland having a whale of a game at centre back, and Campbell proving a double threat at both ends of the pool.

Joel Dennerley also had his best game of the tournament, recovering from a series of quiet games by his lofty standards, to thwart numerous Greek attacks and set up counter-attacking plays for the Sharks.

Billy Miller burst into the game in the last period, taking advantage of a desperate Greek team to nail two fantastic strikes to take his championship tally to seven while Howden’s three also moved him to seven for the tournament.

"It's always good to get a win," Howden said.

"We did well, we knew what we needed and now we have three more games.

"It's again do or die and anything can happen so who knows."

The Sharks will now have to wait for later Group B games to decide their quarterfinal opponent.

Aussie Sharks

Joel Dennerley, Richie Campbell, Tim Cleland, Johnno Cotterill, Aaron Younger, Jamie Beadsworth, Aidan Roach, Sam McGregor, Thomas Whalan, Gavin Woods, Rhys Howden, Billy Miller, James Clark

Result: Australia 13 bt Greece 8

Qtrs: 3-2, 5-3, 3-1, 2-2

X man for: 6 from 7

X man against: Greece scored 3 from 10

AUS Scorers: Rhys Howden 3, Richie Campbell 2, Jamie Beadsworth 2, Billy Miller 2, Tim Cleland, Gavin Woods, Aaron Younger, Thomas Whalan

Thomas Whalan returned to his best for the Sharks with three goals (Grant Treeby Images)

Sharks left to rue innacuracy

The Australian men’s water polo team, the Aussie Sharks, have again succumbed to the precision of their European rivals going down to Croatia 11-6 in their penultimate group match at the London Olympics.

The Sharks were emphatic in creating a host of opportunities in front of goal but a poor conversion rate and superb keeping by Croatia’s Josip Pavic frustrated the Australians.

Olympic veterans Gavin Woods, Thomas Whalan and captain Sam McGregor were standouts for the Sharks as they tried to lift their team to a win, but a plethora of missed chances proved too costly in the end.

Coach John Fox was extremely disappointed with the team’s execution and labelled the miserable 6 from 29 shot percentage as unacceptable.

“We talked about execution today and unfortunately 6 from 29 certainly didn’t achieve that,” Fox said. “They took their opportunities and clearly we didn’t.”

Gavin Woods got the Australians on the board first scoring a quick extra man goal before the Croatians could set their defence. It was the 17th goal from his four Olympic Games campaigns in the 351st game of his international career.

Croatia then scored twice in extra man to take a 2-1 lead into quarter time.

The team’s traded long range goals in the first minute of the second stanza - Australia’s to captain Sam McGregor - before a five minute section when neither team could trouble the scorer. Then Croatia scored another extra man goal and a penalty in the final couple of minutes of the half to hit the main break up 5-2.

With James Clark replacing Joel Dennerley in goals, Croatia opened the scoring in the third term with another penalty before Thomas Whalan, playing in his fourth Olympic Games, scored two goals in quick succession to take the score from 6-2 to 6-4. They were the 25th and 26th goals of his Olympic career.

The Croatians grabbed the next two goals and ended the quarter with an 8-4 lead and the game was skipping away from Australia.

Croatia scored three goals to Australia’s two – to Whalan and Johnno Cotterill - in the final quarter for an end result that left Whalan admitting his side was outgunned across the pool, despite his personal contribution of three goals.

“When you lose by that many goals against Croatia it doesn’t matter how many you score yourself,” Whalan said.

“It’s good for my own personal confidence I suppose but it’s no consolation losing like that.

“Our execution’s just not coming off. I think mainly our extra man isn’t coming off. We’re creating opportunities, we’re doing enough in normal attack to create opportunities, but we’re not putting them away, simple as that.

“We’ve been working on it, we’ve just got to find those holes and put it in there. Croatia outplayed us in all facets of the game.”

The loss now leaves the Aussie Sharks with just a single victory from four games with one game left in the group stage.

The Australians will now be hoping Spain can beat Greece in their game later today to force a sudden death final group stage game between the Aussies and Greece on Day 10 (Monday, 11.20am London time) for a quarterfinal spot.

If the Greeks win against Spain, Australia will be out of contention regardless of the result of their final game.

Aussie Sharks

Joel Dennerley, Richie Campbell, Tim Cleland, Johnno Cotterill, Aaron Younger, Jamie Beadsworth, Aidan Roach, Sam McGregor, Thomas Whalan, Gavin Woods, Rhys Howden, Billy Miller, James Clark

Result: Australia 6 lost to Croatia 11

Qtrs: 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-3

X man for: 2 from 6

X man against: 5 from 6 and 2 from 2 penalties

AUS Scorers: Thomas Whalan 3, Gavin Woods, Sam McGregor, Johnno Cotterill