Spain hold Australia to draw

Australia's Julie Towers in action

Australia's hopes of becoming the first nation to retain the Olympic women's hockey title suffered a minor setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Spain.

The Netherlands, the Champions Trophy winners, also drew 2-2 with South Africa on a day for the underdogs.

The Hockeyroos were stunned by a second-minute goal from Spain's Sonia Ignacio-Simo following a penalty corner.

Alyson Annan drew the teams level five minutes later, but the Spaniards defended stoutly for the rest of the match to earn a valuable point in group A.

Struggled

The Australians, who struggled to defeat Britain 2-1 in their first match, failed to convert any of their 11 penalty corners.

The draw left Australia with four points, two behind unexpected leaders Argentina who won both their opening matches.

With Spain on two points, South Korea on one and Britain yet to open their account, the Australians may yet take one of the three places from the group in the medal pool round.

South Africa 's reult was a much more stirring effort.

Slim chances

Having lost their opening game to Germany, their chances of salvaging anything from this match seemed slim after falling 2-0 down to the Dutch with just 18 minutes remaining.

Pietie Coetzee, however, grasped a penalty corner chance in the 52nd minute to reduce the margin, before Alison Dare banged home the equaliser nine minutes before the final whistle.

The Netherlands were left with just a solitary point from two matches, having lost to China in their opening match.

They must win their remaining matches against leaders Germany and New Zealand to ensure a berth in the medal pool round.