On paper, 2-4 is better than 1-5. The Indian men’s hockey team bridged the gap a bit but went down in a six-goal clash against their nemesis Australia in Perth on Sunday to trail 0-2 in the five-match series. Before the team departed to Australia, head coach Craig Fulton had said that going toe-to-toe for long periods was the key to beating the Kookaburras. Unfortunately, for the second day running, a drop-off in the level – especially in the third quarter – proved to be India’s undoing. A 15-minute blitz saw Australia score three times to turn around a 1-2 half-time deficit. “The Aussies punished us for our mistakes but I didn’t think we were at the races, to be honest,” Fulton had said pre-match about his side’s performance in the first game, and India gave a better account of themselves in the first 30 minutes of the second encounter. Australia took an early lead once again but unlike the first match, India had more control in the first half, especially staying tighter in defence …