Hockey: Black Sticks beat Great Britain

The Black Sticks Women have beaten Great Britain 1-0 today in their third game of the three nations tournament in San Diego. Photo / Getty Images.

The Black Sticks Women have beaten Great Britain 1-0 today in their third game of the three nations tournament in San Diego.

A goal from Canterbury's Olivia Merry in the first half was enough to give the Kiwis their first win of the tournament.

It was Great Britain's last test match before heading home and with all their key players on field and in hot conditions, the Black Sticks were expecting a tough game.

A very intense first half saw both teams create some good chances through open attacking play. With about two minutes before half time, Merry's goal was the difference with a deflection in front of the goalkeeper.

In the second half, the Black Sticks failed to make the most of their opportunities and were unable to convert.

Great Britain pushed very hard towards the end of the game and were rewarded with a penalty corner on the final whistle but fortunately the Kiwi defence was good enough to hold out and take the win.

"It was really pleasing to get ahead 1-0 and even though we couldn't score again, we were able to hold out the game which is something we haven't done for a while," said Black Stick Sam Charlton.
"We continued to chase and harass and that resulted in lots of turnover in the centre of the field which helped our performance and secured the win."

North Harbour's Petrea Webster had a solid performance playing her 50th international test match.

Stand out performers from today's match were Rosie Keddell and Charlton.

The last time the Black Sticks Women won an official test against England was in October 2010 -a 4-1 win at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

The Black Sticks play USA tomorrow at 11am (NZ time) before playing their final game of the tournament against the home side at 9.30am on Tuesday (NZ time).

The three nations tournament includes New Zealand, USA and Great Britain and runs until 18 February.