Hockey: Black Sticks play out draw with Ireland at Six Nations

Photo / David Aliaga

The Black Sticks Men have settled for a 1-1 draw with Ireland at the Six Nations tournament in Valencia.

A penalty stroke from Shea McAleese just out from halftime kept the Kiwis on level terms with Ireland, who opened the scoring with a Shane ODonoghue field goal.

The Black Sticks created plenty of scoring opportunities along with a handful of penalty corners, but were unable to beat classy goalkeeper David Harte more than once.

Head coach Colin Batch said it was frustrating to be creating so many chances on attack but not able to convert them onto the scoreboard.

"We set ourselves a challenge for this game to start well and we didnt do that allowing them to score early," he said.

"We woke up after that and played well. Once again we created a lot of opportunities but we need to be able to get the job done and have something to show for it.

"The quality in our finishing is not quite there at the moment but we have the chance to finish the tournament well with what will be a tough game against Argentina."

Ireland were dangerous on attack in the early stages and opened the scoring in the sixth minute when ODonoghue sent a penalty corner flick into goal.

The Black Sticks regrouped following the goal and put together some impressive phases with the ball while also strengthening up on defence.

In the 28th minute Simon Child went on a promising run towards goal and had his legs taken out by goalkeeper Harte, with the umpire awarding a penalty stroke which McAleese calmly slotted.

The second half offered chances for both sides to break the deadlock, but defence reigned supreme in a goalless 30 minutes.

The Black Sticks play their final match at the Six Nations against Argentina at midnight tomorrow (NZ time), with live streaming at www.hockeynz.co.nz/Video

BLACK STICKS 1: (Shea McAleese)

IRELAND 1: (Shane ODonoghue)

Halftime: 1-1

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ