Hockey: Black Sticks in game of two halves

By DAVID LEGGAT

It might become one of the more intriguing questions of the women's Olympic qualifying tournament: what was in the Black Sticks' halftime drinks against the Ukraine yesterday?

At the interval, New Zealand were in deep trouble against the unfancied Ukrainians, down 2-0, their game misfiring and unable to take a grip on a match they had to win.

The second half was a far more cohesive effort and three goals ensured a 3-2 win to keep the world No 9 team on track for a spot in the Athens Olympics in August as one of the top two teams from their pool.

"I felt at 2-0 at halftime we could come back. If we'd gone 3-0 it would have been a struggle. That could have been the nail in the coffin," said coach Ian Rutledge last night, adding that the essence of his halftime talk was to be urgent and keep patient.

New Zealand were expecting an awkward game and they weren't disappointed. The world No 15 Ukrainians defended in depth and when they broke they frequently caught the Black Sticks' defence on the hop.

Despite a bucketload of penalty corners in the first half, six to one, they failed to make a dent. Injuries, interchanges and team selections left their first-choice set-piece operators off the park at the crucial times.

Ukraine were 2-0 up after 12 minutes. Svitlana Kolomiyets flicked the ball over goalkeeper Helen Clarke after the Black Sticks botched a clearance and the collywobbles set in when Zhanna Savenko deflected a free hit into the New Zealand goal.

New Zealand looked hesitant in defence and despite a welter of possession seemed unable to make much headway.

They needed a break early in the second half and after captain Suzie Muirhead had flicked a shot over the bar, their seventh penalty corner worked. A clever move enabled Niniwa Roberts-Lang to slap a hard shot through goalkeeper Olha Fisyun's legs.

The equaliser came from a mazy run by Kayla Sharland with Lisa Walton on hand to score from close range while Roberts-Lang bagged the winner, slamming a rebound from a Walton shot into the net.

The closing minutes were not without their anxious moments, but Walton, for one, was absolutely certain the right result would come.

"No way were we coming off having lost that game. We knew we could beat them, never doubted it," the Auckland attacker said.

The Black Sticks, who head pool A, now need just a point from their final group game against Germany tomorrow night to seal their Olympic spot.

In yesterday's other game, Korea whacked Russia 6-0 in pool B play.