Hayward powers Oz into semis

Bhubaneswar: Watching Spain in the opening quarter of their last-8 clash against Australia in the FIH World Cup was like listening to their traditional form of music Flamenco — spontaneous yet with depth. But deeper into the match, the Red Sticks lost their rhythm in patches and squandered a 2-0 advantage to go down 3-4 at the Kalinga stadium here on Tuesday.
In a match befitting the stage, Spain held sway in the first quarter as their rivals took time to warm up. Australia could have taken the lead as early as in the third minute but Blake Govers’ drag-flick, off their first penalty corner, went straight to goalkeeper Adrian Rafi.
In the first quarter, Australia enjoyed better circle penetration (8 vs 3) and a 62% ball possession, with three penalty corners wasted. Spain, on the other hand, did well to defend their citadel.
Even as the Australian game plan was taking shape, Xavier Gispert and Enrique Gonzalez combined to put the three-time champions on the back foot. In the 19th minute, Gispert charged in from the 23m mark after latching on to a cross from Gonzalez, picked an acute angle and reverse slapped the ball into the goal. Four minutes later, Marc Recasens stretched the lead, finding the back of the net.
The Australians had a quick chat before coming down hard on the Spaniards. With five seconds for half-time, their comeback plan began to yield results. They used a penalty corner variation with Matt Dawson passing the ball to Flynn Ogilvie, who lured Rafi out of his position to slot home his team’s first goal. Even before Spain could fully take guard in the third quarter, the Aussies were attacking. Dawson’s long pass on the baseline was received by Jake Whetton and skipper Aran Zalewski put the finishing touches from a close range to equalise. Jeremy Hayward scored a fine brace in the space of four minutes with his drag-flicks being too hot to handle.
BELGIANS BLANK KIWIS:
Barely 48 hours after their memorable win against India, New Zealand came up short against defending champions Belgium, who won 2-0 to book their slot in the semifinals. Belgium are without their star drag-flicker Alexander Hendrickx, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. The Red Lions scored both their goals in the opening quarter and then ensured the Black Sticks had no room for a comeback with tight defence and man-to-man marking.Results:
Australia 4 (Flynn Ogilvie 29, Aran Zalewski 31, Jeremy Hayward 32, 36) bt Spain 3 (Xavier Gispert 19, Marc Recasens 23, Marc Miralles 40). Belgium 2 (Tom Boon 10, Florent Van Aubel 15) bt New Zealand 0.