Hockey: Black Sticks bounce back against Malaysia

Phoebe Steele opened the scoring for New Zealand in their win over Malaysia. Photo / photosport.nz

It took only one quarter for the Black Sticks to respond to coach Mark Hager's criticism and eventually blow away Malaysia today.

New Zealand's women recovered from a shock loss to clinch the five-test series ahead of this afternoon's finale, starting fast and fluid to spark a 5-2 romp in Stratford.

Hager labelled Thursday's 1-0 defeat against the 21st-ranked Malaysia as one of the worst performances he had seen from his side and the world No 5 Black Sticks opened today's game as if their coach's assessment was still ringing in their ears.

Phoebe Steele opened the scoring with a slick penalty corner finish seven minutes into the match and the hosts doubled their lead five minutes later through Kirsten Pearce, leaving Hager immediately more satisfied.

"The other night, we probably came out with a poor attitude and didn't have a desire to perform well in the black shirt, and I think the result was a big kick in the pants," Hager said. "I thought we were much better in the first quarter [today]. We had a bit more intensity and physicality about us and we stuck to the gameplan a little bit better."

That remained evident throughout the first half as Rachel McCann's impressive reverse stick shot made it 3-0. The Black Sticks did suffer through some patches of inconsistency in the second half, as Malaysia pulled a goal back early and added a consolation late, but two third-quarter strikes in as many minutes from Samantha Harrison and Michaela Curtis made the game and series safe.

Hager was particularly pleased with his side's combinations and, given he had selected an inexperienced squad featuring 12 debutants, was encouraging that his young side were learning the intensity required in international hockey.

"Today showed me could play at a level desired, even though we've still got a long way to go," Hager said. "It was a little step forward and that was pleasing.

"We still need to be more consistent throughout a whole game. I think that's just individuals playing well and doing our basic skills very well. That's got to be the key tomorrow."

New Zealand 5 (P. Steele, K. Pearce, R. McCann, S. Harrison, M. Curtis)
Malaysia 2 (S. Noh, N. Rashid)
Halftime: 3-0