Tom Boon, who was later named the Player of the Match, opened the floodgates for the Red Lions in the eighth minute, scoring a clinical field goal for which assistance came from Florent van Aubel. Belgium took a 2-0 lead into half time thanks to Simon Gougnard, who pounced on a penalty corner rebound to smash into England’s net. This was a memorable goal for Gougnard, who was heart-broken after the demise of his father yesterday. Paying tribute to Gougnard’s father, players of the Belgium team wore black armbands in the match.

Cedric Charlier scored the third goal in the 42nd minute before Hendrickx fired his penalty corner double either side of the quarter-time break. With this double Hendrickx became the top scorer of the ongoing World Cup with seven goals to his name. Sebastien Dockier capped the Belgium victory with a field goal in the 53rd minute.

The second semi-final was a replay of the World Cup final of 2014, with reigning champions Australia (WR: 1) and the Netherlands (WR: 4) taking to the field for what proved to be a truly epic encounter. After soaking up some early Australian pressure, the Netherlands took the lead when Glenn Schuurman sounded the board from close range.

Seve van Ass made it 2-0 in the second quarter when his attempted cross was inadvertently deflected into the Australian net by Tim Howard. Australia’s response was fierce, with Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak producing numerous high-quality blocks to keep the title holders off the score-sheet ahead of the half time break.

The match continued to move from end-to-end at breakneck speed, with Australia pulling a goal back through Howard’s ferocious slap-shot from the top of the circle to give his team hope going into the final quarter. Blaak – later named Player of the Match – continued his sensational form in the fourth period by making further crucial saves, including a remarkable close-range block from Flynn Ogilvie who seemed almost certain to score.

Australia’s equaliser arrived with just 26 seconds of the match remaining, and there was little Blaak could do about it. Eddie Ockenden was the scorer, brilliantly intercepting an aerial pass before eventually getting a first time shot towards goal, only for the unfortunate Schuurman to edge the ball through his goalkeeper’s legs to send the match to a shoot-out.

With both teams missing twice, the shoot-out score was locked at 3-3 and went to sudden-death. Jeroen Hertzberger made no mistake with the first of the sudden-death efforts, piling the pressure on Daniel Beale, who needed to score to keep Australian hopes alive. However, it was Blaak and the Netherlands who would emerge triumphant, with the goalkeeper standing tall to make a superb stick save to put the Oranje into the World Cup final at the expense of the defending champions.

RESULTS:

Dec 15 (Match No 34, SF-2): Netherlands (Glenn Schuurman 9-FG, Seve van Ass 20-FG) beat Australia (Tim Howard 45-PC, Eddie Ockenden 60-FG) 6-5 in shoot out (Full time 2-2). Shoot out: Australia (Tom Craig, Daniel Beale, Jake Whetton) lost to Netherlands (Jeroen Hertberger, Jeroen Hertberger, Thijs van Dam, Seve van Ass) 4-3. PoM: Pirmin Blaak (Netherlands).

Dec 15 (Match No 33, SF-1): Belgium (Tom Boon 8-FG, Simon Gougnard 19-PC, Cedric Charlier 42-FG, Alexander Hendrickx 45-PC, 50-PC; Sebastien Dockier 53-FG) beat England 6-0. PoM: Tom Boon (Belgium).
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TOP: Belgium drag-flick specialist Alexander Hendrickx celebrates after scoring his second goal in the semifinals against England and becoming the top scorer of the ongoing World Cup on December 15, 2018.
RIGHT: Netherlands goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak celebrates after playing instrumental role in their semifinal win against Australia on December 15, 2018.