Hockey: Black Sticks let down by structure, says captain

Soft goals were gifted away to the Chinese yesterday.

Structural work at the front and back of the pitch needs tidying up before New Zealand head to the World Cup in The Hague next month, according to captain Kayla Whitelock.

The Black Sticks, ranked fifth, lost 3-2 to China in the playoff for third on the final day of the Festival of Hockey in Hastings yesterday.

It was a disappointing result for the hosts at the inaugural tournament, who earlier lost 2-1 to world No7 China in round-robin play.

Soft goals were gifted away to the Chinese yesterday. They particularly found the defence porous down New Zealand's right side. New Zealand had penalty corner opportunities to equalise in the second half, but none were grabbed.

World No2 Argentina beat world No4 Australia 3-0 in the final, while Korea beat Japan 2-1 to decide fifth and sixth places.

"We've been pretty inconsistent the whole tournament. That's the most disappointing thing," Whitelock said.

New Zealand didn't appear fired up for the challenge yesterday, after losing what amounted to a semifinal 4-2 to Australia 24 hours earlier.

"Yeah, I guess that's part of it, but if you want to win a medal you've got to turn up the next day and perform. There was a little bit of a lack of urgency and want, unfortunately."

Creating chances had not been the issue up front for the Black Sticks; finishing them off had been, while Whitelock believed sorting out key defensive points, including holding the right positions and making it more difficult for teams to get into their circle, would need plenty of work when the squad gets together in Auckland later this month.

The players have the next week off before a solid block of work begins ahead of flying to the World Cup on May 19. The competing squad is expected to be named on May 1.