Hockey: Black Sticks beaten by Dutch

Brooke Neal, left, scored New Zealand's only goal.

The Black Sticks Women have been beaten 3-1 in the first of two tests against the Netherlands at the Noordwijkse Hockey Club in Holland.

The tests are part of New Zealand's build-up to the FIH World League Semi-Final which runs from 20 June - 5 July in Antwerp, Belgium.

Despite the fatigue of arriving in Europe just over a day ago, the Black Sticks were competitive against the world champions.

Plenty of positives came out of the contest including the side's solid defence, which stopped all five Dutch penalty corner shots.

Northland's Brooke Neal scored New Zealand's lone goal from a penalty corner in the fourth quarter.

Assistant coach Sean Dancer said it was a tough challenge and good way to get the team into competition mode.

"We only arrived yesterday and at times you could see the girls were quite tired, but that just makes the task a bit more difficult and is not an excuse," he said.

"The Dutch were more reactive and quicker than us on the ball, especially in the midfield where we got outmuscled a bit.

"Liz Thompson was the standout for us today. She was put under a lot of pressure and more often than not won the challenge.

"We finished well and had a good fourth quarter, so we will go away and get better ahead of our next game. At the end of the day we knew it would be a tough game and it was a good challenge."

The Black Sticks play a second test against Netherlands at midnight tomorrow night (NZ time) before travelling to Belgium for the World League Semi-Final.