Black Sticks beaten in World League tune up

The Vantage Black Sticks Men have suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat at the hands of Belgium in the second of two test matches in Brussels.

New Zealand struggled to create momentum against the Rio Olympic silver medallists, who were fuelled by a double from Sebastien Dockier.

The Kiwis started well and pushed the hosts through some exciting phases of play in a goalless first quarter, but it was all Belgium from there.

Head coach Darren Smith said it was tough going against Belgium, who lifted to another level following the first test.

"Belgium really stepped it up today and the quality of their play was better than ours," he said.

"I thought we started well and put together some good attacking hockey but as the game wore on we werent able to mount pressure on Belgium and their finishing was lethal.

"Defensively we needed to tackle and defend much better in the circle so we will take those learnings and make sure we improve going into World League."

The Vantage Black Sticks now head to South Africa for final preparation ahead of the FIH World League Semi Final which starts on 8th July in Johannesburg.

New Zealand open the tournament against France at 10:00pm on Sunday 9th July (NZT), with live coverage on SKY Sport.

Meanwhile, the Vantage Black Sticks Women go up against Italy in the quarter finals at their World League Semi Final in Brussels tonight, live on SKY Sport 4 from 11:10pm (NZT).

VANTAGE BLACK STICKS 0

BELGIUM 5: (Sebastien Dockier 2, Thomas Briels, Amaury Keusters, Cedric Charlier)

Halftime: Belgium 3-0



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ