Black Sticks men no match for Great Britain
The New Zealand men’s Black Sticks remain winless in the FHI Pro League following a 6-2 loss to Great Britain yesterday.
The Black Sticks were outplayed and out-hustled by an energetic Great Britain.
The match was the first time international hockey had been contested in Christchurch since Porritt Park was destroyed in the 2011 earthquakes.
The humbling loss was an unfortunate way for Black Sticks midfielder Nic Woods to bring up his 100th test match in the black shirt, but he did manage a goal in his milestone match.
A three-goal second-quarter blitz – all from penalty corners – put Great Britain in a commanding position up 3-0 at halftime.
Great Britain were clinical on attack and defence and limited opportunities for the Black Sticks side in a high-scoring match.
Great Britain forward Sam Ward scored his second goal early in the third quarter that came from an unlucky rebound from Black Sticks goalkeeper Richard Joyce.
Joyce, who was constantly under pressure but pulled off several remarkable saves, saved an attempt on goal only for the ball to bounce straight back to Ward who knocked it in goal to make it 4-0.
Soon after, Phil Roper tapped in his second following some sharp work from Ward in the circle to put Great Britain up 5-0.
The Black Sticks finally won their first penalty corner late in the third quarter but were unable to convert. But they did a couple of minutes later when Great Britain were a man short when Liam Sanford was handed a yellow card. Woods converted from the Black Sticks’ second penalty corner.
Black Sticks striker Hugo Inglis quickly doubled his team’s score when he skilfully tapped in a lengthy overhead pass from Kane Russell to further capitalise on Great Britain being a man short and close the gap to 5-2 at the end of the third quarter.
But the Black Sticks’ revival took a hit early in the final quarter when Ward got his hat-trick with a soft goal despite his team still being a man down.
In the first quarter, Ward grabbed the first goal of the match before Roper scored the second – after the ball struck Black Sticks defender Shea Mcaleese’s foot.
The Black Sticks problems were compounded soon after when striker Hayden Phillips was shown a yellow card for a foul, forcing his team to play with just 10 men for five minutes.
And Great Britain capitalised less than a minute later with a third goal to captain Adam Dixon.
With a loss to the Netherlands (3-4) and a penalty shootout loss to Belgium (after being locked up at 4-4) the Black Sticks are yet to taste victory in the FHI Pro League.