Aussie Sharks go down fighting to Spain

It was a battle from start to finish for the Aussie Sharks, with six players making their Olympic debut at the Paris Aquatic Centre.

Spain were the first on the scoreboard, before Milos Maksimovic fired back with the first goal for the Aussie Sharks. 

Angus Lambie claimed back-to-back goals in the second quarter, the Aussie Sharks trailing 3-5 at the half-time break. 

Jacob Mercep added his name to the scoresheet in the third quarter, before Milos scored his second in the last quarter. But it wasn’t enough to hold off the World Championship bronze medalists, going down by four.

Aussie Sharks co-captain Nathan Power said while disappointed, the team will take some confidence from the positive signs shown.

“Spain is probably one of the most well-rounded teams here, playing them is like playing a game of chess, and it really takes a full team effort,” Power said.

“For us today we had really long periods of game play, we had some great defence, there was probably just a couple of momentary lapses which gave them a couple of goals. 

“For us there’s a lot of encouraging signs as we approach the rest of the group stage. Looking forward, hopefully we can get better at finishing off opportunities and create some more opportunities.

“We had them today and with one or two more goals the game looks really different.”

Olympic debutant Angus will take confidence from his team’s efforts and his own personal performance, scoring two goals.

“It was incredible,” Angus said.

“I had some special supporters in the crowd - my parents, my godparents, some friends from school and some of their parents as well. 

“It meant a lot to be able to score those goals and look at those people in the crowd and know that I was making them proud.

“The support from back home has been fantastic. I have had my phone on Do Not Disturb all morning, but I’m sure there’s a bunch of messages wishing me luck. I’m looking forward to reading those and using them for the next game.”

The Aussie Sharks will next play Serbia on Tuesday 30 July at 6:30pm AEST.