The Kookaburras are still flying high at the launch of Olympic year, a 4-1 hammering of Spain maintaining their perfect start in the FIH Hockey Pro League in India.
Having moved on to a new Indian venue, Colin Batch's team looked no less impressive in Rourkela on Wednesday than they had in Bhubaneswar the previous fortnight as they swept aside the Spanish with four unanswered goals after an early shock.
Goals from Flynn Ogilvie, Nathan Ephraums, Jeremy Hayward and Tim Brand made it five league wins in a row and put the Kookaburras in a strong position, now in second place in the league on a maximum 15 points from five matches as they close in on the Dutch pacesetters.
Later on Wednesday in Rourkela, the Dutch lextended their lead to five points - although they've played five matches more than Australia - by defeating hosts India 4-2 in a shootout, after the teams had drawn 1-1.
"Spain came out firing, for sure. We were a little bit slow to start but then regained some possession and it was important to have that," said Australian coach Batch, well satisfied with his team, who have now scored 24 goals in their five matches.
Seeking revenge for their narrow 4-3 loss to the Australians in Bhubaneswar 10 days earlier, Spain struck first in just over 90 seconds through Pere Amat.
It only prompted a fierce response from the Kookaburras, with Ogilvie one of a host of Australians in the circle on hand a couple of minutes later who could have finished off a slick team move.
Ephraums made it 2-1 before the end of the first quarter with a neat finish after the ball was slipped to him with delightful sleight of stick from Jack Welch.
Hayward then produced a magnificent flicked penalty corner into the right hand corner of the net that was so searing it actually clipped the top of defender Ignacio Rodriguez's face guard.
Another sweeping move saw Brand grab a fourth near the end of the third quarter, as he collected a nice ball from Ephraums before swivelling to squeeze his shot into the corner.
The game lost, Spanish indiscipline began to cost them dear as they suffered two yellow cards in the final stages as they sought vainly to get back into the game.
The Australians will have a quick turnaround before facing Ireland on Thursday as they seek to make it six wins on the trot.
