Hockey: Black Sticks take note of missed chances

By DAVID LEGGAT

Failure to nail their scoring chances cost the Black Sticks the chance of winning back-to-back Olympic qualifying tournaments, but coach Ian Rutledge was hardly shedding any tears last night.

New Zealand were given a lesson in taking opportunities by a durable, if unspectacular, Spain, and lost 1-0.

World No 7 Spain had two clear chances and took one; New Zealand had a hatful and came up empty.

The Black Sticks, who won the 2000 tournament in Milton Keynes, England, now play Germany, who were beaten 3-0 by Japan last night, to decide the bronze medal tomorrow.

Rutledge acknowledged that it might have been harder for his team to retain focus yesterday once they had achieved the goal of qualifying for the Athens Games.

Even so, he was happy with what he saw.

"We wanted a good result, as well as a good performance," he said.

"It was our first semifinal as a team and I took a lot out of it, a lot more positives than negatives."

New Zealand had much the better of the run of play and it was not until the final quarter that the Spaniards threatened the Black Sticks' goal.

With Lizzy Igasan and Caryn Paewai standing out at the back, the defence was efficient and composed, and chances were created up front.

Tara Drysdale could not nudge a ball in from a couple of metres out in the first half and three gilt-edged openings were muffed in the second spell.

Stacey Carr could not deflect a strong Igasan shot in; Meredith Orr missed from point-blank range in front; and Kayla Sharland did not react as quickly as impressive Ma Jesus Rosa in the Spanish goal after smart lead-up work from Niniwa Roberts-Lang and Lisa Walton.

Spain's goal, from their only penalty corner 17 minutes from the end, came from a strong shot by Maider Telleria.

New Zealand had nine shots on goal to two, four penalty corners to one, and the likelihood of an equaliser remained until the end as they maintained the heat on the Spanish defence, but that critical final touch was missing.

There were tears earlier in the day when Great Britain, world No 5, were eliminated from Olympic contention when they lost 2-0 to world No 6 Korea.

"To say I'm hugely disappointed is a massive understatement," British coach Trish Heberle said.

At the time they squandered a 2-0 lead against the Black Sticks in their opening game there was the fear it could come back to haunt them. Yesterday it did.

The United States beat Ireland 2-1 with a golden goal in extra time from Tracey Fuchs and now face the Koreans tomorrow for the final Olympic spot.