Black Sticks walloped in final

There was only one team who lifted its game in New Zealand’s deep south – and it wasn’t the Black Sticks.

Australia added the icing to a week of dominance over their Commonwealth Games conquerors with a 4-1 victory over New Zealand in the Tri-Nations women’s hockey final in chilly Cromwell yesterday.

It added up to a remarkable 11-2 aggregate score in Australia’s favour over three transTasman clashes this past week, a stark turnaround from the Black Sticks’ 4-1 win in the gold medal match on the Gold Coast last month.

In single figure temperatures, with some players donning leggings and long-sleeved thermal tops, the visitors again ran hot.

A close contest looked on when New Zealand’s Samantha Harrison dived to deflect a goal from a penalty corner in the 19th minute to level the scores. But Ambrosia Malone’s field goal on the stroke of halftime gave Australia the lead again and, by the end of the third quarter, it was all over at 4-1 thanks to goals from Emily Hurtz and Brooke Peris.

The Black Sticks were without some key players from the Gold Coast but clearly still have work to do ahead of their next big assignment, the World Cup in London in July.

After losing their opening match to Japan, New Zealand then scraped past them into the decider via a penalty shootout on Saturday.