Hockey: Couzins says error rate to blame for Korean defeat

It wasn't the best week for New Zealand hockey. Photo / Thinkstock

It has not been a great week for New Zealand hockey.

Days after the Black Sticks women failed to secure direct entry to next year's Champions Trophy, the men blew a 2-0 lead to lose the five test series with Korea 3-2 after conceding four goals in each of the last three tests.

The Koreans got back to 1-2 when they came from 0-2 to win Thursday's third test 4-2 and followed that with back-to-back weekend wins 4-1 and 4-3 at the Lloyd Elsmore Hockey Stadium to claim the honours.

In Saturday's fourth test New Zealand again took the lead but conceded goals at will to lose. Taking that momentum into yesterday's decider, the visitors struck first, conceded an Andy Hayward penalty corner early in the second half but quickly regained the initiative and went on to win comfortably with the Black Sticks getting back to within a goal with a Shea McAleese strike - from another penalty corner - right on fulltime.

Captain Dean Couzins blamed his players for the loss, saying the error rate proved the difference.

"With a lack of basic skills, you can't impose yourself on a game," said Couzins. "You start to build a bit and then you're making too many errors. It's taking the two steps forward, one step back scenario."

In the series, the Koreans, ranked a place higher than New Zealand at sixth, scored 16 goals to the Blacks Sticks' 13 but it was the failure of the home side to press home the advantage when in front which will most upset coach Shane McLeod.

The matches have come early in Olympic year which gives the coach and his players time to get their campaign back on track but it would be far better to head away for the final preparations confident the players are ready.

Couzins is not giving up on his teammates yet.

"What you'll see at the Olympics is a really close competition and we need to be on the right side of those close results as we were at last year's Champions Trophy," said the Black Sticks captain. "We'll need to do a lot of hard work between now and then and our basic skills need to be a lot better."

Nick Wilson provided the individual highlight for the series joining eight of his teammates in reaching the 100-test milestone. Given that experience, McLeod has every reason to be disappointed with the series loss.

In their last meeting before this series, the Black Sticks had scored their only win at December's North Harbour-based Champions Trophy in beating the South Koreans 6-1. New Zealand went on to finish fourth and Korea last in the eight-team tournament.

The South Korean series brought the last games at home for the team before the Olympics.

After being centralised in Auckland from mid-April, they will play the Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament in Malaysia in late May-early June before a planned series against Australia away in June.

The team will have a pre-Olympic European tour in July on which McLeod will take 18 players, but he will have to trim that to 16 by the time the team goes to the Olympic village.