Black Sticks win and loss at FIH World Cup
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A win and a loss for the Black Sticks teams at the FIH Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium.
After going down to the Netherlands in their opener, New Zealand secured their first win of the men's tournament with a 2-0 victory over Japan.
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The Black Sticks opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a lovely run into the circle from Isaac Houlbrooke, who crossed to Sam Lane, who was perfectly positioned for the deflection in front of goal.
It wasn’t until the 46th minute that Dylan Thomas doubled New Zealand’s lead with a spectacular piece of individual skill, slotting home from an almost impossible angle.
In Belgium the Black Sticks women fell to a 3-2 loss to Ireland in their second match of the tournament.
After a few chances in the first quarter, Ireland's Sarah Hawkshaw finally broke the deadlock with Ireland’s opener in the 23rd minute.
New Zealand came out with more intensity in the third quarter and the pressure paid off, Emelia Surridge scoring from a good penalty corner variation in the 34th.
Ireland were back in front thanks to a Roisin Upton penalty stroke and Katie Mullan then made sure of the win from a penalty corner eight minutes later.
New Zealand grabbed a consolation from another PC by Katie Doar (her second goal of the tournament) with just 13 seconds remaining, but the final whistle came before they could mount any kind of a comeback.
The New Zealand men play Argentina in their next game while the women face Spain.
