Black Sticks rally too late in thriller
The Black Sticks men and women have begun their Pro League campaigns with two narrow losses in two very different games against strong Netherlands outfits.
It was the men who were in action first in the double-header against the Dutch at North Harbour Hockey Stadium and they were quickly in trouble yesterday, trailing 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, with Thierry Brinkman, Jonas de Geus, and Jip Janssen all scoring.
They fought back in the second, with Hugo Inglis nabbing a brace and Kane Russell firing home at a penalty corner to tie the game 3-3 heading into the halftime break, but were caught napping at a free hit late in the third quarter, with Brinkman scoring the decisive goal in the 4-3 loss.
There was only one goal in the women’s game, with Maartje Krekelaar’s strike midway through the third quarter enough to give the Dutch a 1-0 win in front of a crowd of 2,500.
‘‘I think from the first quarter, there will be a couple of goals that will be a bit tough to watch,’’ Black Sticks men’s coach Darren Smith said afterwards.
‘‘The Dutch were easy on the eye and held possession of the ball, and that was even though we started the game well and had a couple of good attacks.
‘‘It was looking a bit ominous at 3-0 at the end of the first quarter and I really admire that we were able to get stuck into them and come back into the game.’’
The Black Sticks women thought they had found an equaliser in the fourth quarter of their game but a video replay deemed there to have been obstruction.
Despite the result, captain Stacey Michelsen said she was pleased with how the team had grown stronger in the second half of the game.
‘‘I was just really impressed with the attitude the girls brought.’’
Goals have been in good supply so far in the men’s Pro League, with Great Britain coming from 4-1 down at the end of the first quarter to beat Spain 6-5 and Belgium winning a shootout after drawing 2-2 away to Spain and beating Argentina 4-2 at home.