The Australian men's hockey team put up a fight when they took on India at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 as part of the FIH Hockey Pro League double-header.
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Kookaburras' top goal scorer and Lithgow export Lachi Sharp found the back of the net in the first game securing a 4-3 win for the reigning men's champions.
"We had control of the match for the most part, but the last quarter was a bit frantic with India counter attacking and their crowd getting louder and louder," Sharp said.
He said the green and gold side were lucky to have a 4-1 lead going into the last quarter and held their hosts out.
"The fourth quarter was not what we wanted, but to have a good defence in the end and hold them out, it was a good win," he said.
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Sharp said a game highlight for him was getting to play in front of an Indian crowd again.
"The noise they make when India are attacking is deafening," he said.
Unfortunately in their second match against India the Australian's tied at a 2-all draw leading to a defeating shootout result of 3-1.
Sharp was praised for his scoring performance after game one, being awarded player of the match.
"These awards don't come around too often so I'm very grateful and it sounds cliche but I couldn't have done it without my teammates.
"To play the way they did for most of the game was awesome and hopefully we can continue that heading into the Olympics," he said.
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