KEY POINTS:
New Zealand 2 Netherlands 1
The young guns of New Zealand played a key role in turning the clock back five years with a richly deserved come-from-behind win over the world-acclaimed Dutch in the series opener at Lloyd Elsmore Park yesterday.
It was the first win for the Black Sticks over the Netherlands since a six-nation tournament in Malaysia in January 2002 when they won 3-1 before being hammered 10-2 in the return.
The new-look New Zealand side shrugged off their lack of match play and a tentative start to claim the victory with two well-taken first-half field goals after the visitors had gone ahead with a dubious 19th-minute penalty stroke.
The early play was with the Dutch.
Content to build from the back and using captain Jeroen Delmee, Robert van der Horst and Thomas Boerma as their launching pad, they stretched the home side in pushing forward and wide.
Quick to pounce on any turnover ball, they had their first clear scoring chance inside five minutes. Rob Reckers pounced on a loose ball as Blair Hopping attempted to clear but smacked his shot on to the post.
A minute later Eby Kessing swooped on to a loose ball in the New Zealand defensive circle but his first-time shot was blocked by goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex's pads.
As they worked their way into the game, the Black Sticks became more assured and forced the first penalty corner after Simon Child had run strongly to create pressure.
Midway through the spell, coach rookie Shane McLeod made changes with Jan Petersen and Andy Hayward getting their first taste and joining Nick Haig in making their international debuts.
The opening goal came after 19 minutes when, after forcing a penalty corner, Dutch umpire Roderick Wijsmuller awarded the visitors a stroke as the ball played in by Wouter Jolie deflected harmlessly from Pontifex's pads on to Dean Couzins' foot.
Teun de Nooijer slotted for 1-0.
They then missed a second penalty corner before New Zealand struck.
A great ball played out from defence by Ben Collier was gathered by Petersen. With the Dutch defence pushing forward he charged into open space, drew goalkeeper Klaas Veering before slipping the ball to Bevan Hari who scored the 28th-minute equaliser. Five minutes later they took the lead.
James Nation, later named man of the match, fired a long ball down the line to pick out Child.
Gathering and turning on the run, he carved in and as Veering got caught short at the near post, Child smashed home what proved to be the winner.
There was no scoring after the break with limited opportunities for either side.
"It was not always pretty but pretty much what I expected," said McLeod as he savoured a first-up victory in his caretaker role.
"We are at a development stage and it was good to see the new players blend in so well.
"We took the goals well which is pleasing especially as I felt we were a bit unlucky in having the stroke awarded against us. The only other disappointment was at times we dropped too deep which allowed them to put us under pressure."
Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans tagged it a good game adding New Zealand had played very, very defensively.
"Often they had 10 players back in defence which made it difficult for us," said Oltmans. "Twice we lost possession - we were very uncareful - and they scored two well-taken goals.
"This is the time of the year for our players to learn. We created five chances in the first half but did not take any of them."
There is the feeling the lessons will be well-heeded by the time the teams meet again in the second test at the same ground tomorrow night.
