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Aussies beat Pakistan

Australia showed why they are favourites for the Olympic hockey gold with a 4-2 victory over Pakistan in the first of three Tests in Perth on Tuesday.

Michael Brennan put them ahead within 30 seconds, sounding the boards with crisp shot from the top of the circle.

Then came the first of Troy Elder's double strike in the 23rd minute. He found space in as crowded Pakistan defence to score and put the home team 2-0 up.

However Paklistan came back with two conversions from penalty-corner expert Sohail Abbas to tie the match 2-2 at half-time.

In the second session, though the Aussie dominated, they could only score in the 60th minute when Elder found the mark from a penalty-corner.

Veteran striker Stephen Davies made it 4-2 in the dying minutes with a field goal.

Coach Terry Walsh was pleased with the performance of his boys.

"We did better today in many areas than what we have done since the beginning of the year," he said.

For Pakistan, who last won the Olympic title in 1984 at Los Angeles, it was a disappointing start to their final build-up before the Games.