A convincing 4-1 win against Egypt has given the Black Sticks Men a good start at the FIH World League Semi-Final in Buenos Aires this morning.
Head coach Colin Batch said that although a win is always nice, the team are disappointed with the way they played and will be looking at areas of improvement ahead of their game against Japan tomorrow (5am NZ time).
"The win is good but we are disappointed with the way we executed it, there was a bit of frustration out there. We never under estimated Egypt, they had some good players that came forward, and defensively they limited the shots we had on goal, especially in that first half."
"I think the area we need to improve is our transferring and passing to create more opportunities - and we will look at that ahead of tomorrow's game. We know more about the way Japan play, we have played them and had some good results recently, it's just about getting out there and doing the business tomorrow."
In today's match, it was the first time these two countries had met and the 20th ranked Egyptians came onto the park full of vigour and energy to secure a win against the seventh ranked Black Sticks.
In the first half, the Black Sticks had the majority of possession and territory and although they held Egypt out of the game, the Kiwis were unable to get many clear shots at goal.
Veteran midfielder Ryan Archibald took a good shot in the first quarter, but it was well saved by the keeper who was outstretched to his left to bat it away.
With three minutes remaining in the second half, the Kiwis were awarded their first penalty corner of the game and drag flicker Kane Russell rocketed the ball over the line to give his side their first goal of the tournament.
The momentum really picked up in the third quarter when captain Simon Child won a tackle at the top of the circle and took a clinical reverse stick shot which flew past the keeper. The Egyptians lost their video referral when they asked for the tackle to be checked upstairs, but it was given the all clear and Child's goal remained.
Only 90 seconds later, Southern's striker Hugo Inglis stretched the lead to 3-0 thanks to a brilliant touch from a Kane Russell cross in the circle.
In the fourth quarter, as Egypt tired the Kiwis created more opportunities but it was some nice individual play from Mamdouh who caught the Kiwi defenders off guard and slotted it home.
The game was put beyond reach when New Zealand won a video referral for their second chance at a penalty corner and this time Nick Haig flicked it across the line giving the Kiwis a 4-1 win.
The top three finishers from the tournament automatically qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, with the top four progressing to the World League Final in India (28 Nov - 6 Dec, 2015). The Black Sticks Men play 16th ranked Japan tomorrow at 5am (NZ time), they then face the Dutch at 5am on Monday (NZ time) ahead of Korea at 9am on Wednesday before progressing to a must win quarter-final game on Friday 12 June.
RESULTS
Full time: 4-1 (NZ win)
Half time: 1-0 (NZ led)
Black Sticks goal scorers: Kane Russell, Simon Child, Hugo Inglis, Nick Haig
Egypt goal scorers: Mamdouh
