Hockey: NZ dispose of Wales

New Zealand 6
Wales 2

New Zealand beat Wales in the opening round of the men's World Cup qualifying tournament at Invercargill yesterday.

The Black Sticks overcame a slow start to open the scoring in the 17th minute through striker Nick Wilson.

Wilson, 18, took advantage of a lucky deflection in front of goal and aggressively banged home an aerial shot from close range.

Andy Hayward made the most of his opportunities at penalty corner time to convert two from two before halftime.

The comfortable three-goal buffer was quickly eroded in the second half, however, when Wales' Richard Gay added two drag flicks of his own in the 37th and 49th minutes.

The Black Sticks responded well to the pressure, with Wilson finishing off an attack for a 4-2 lead in the 60th minute.

Phil Burrows netted a nice pass from Simon Child for the fifth goal three minutes later and Hayward completed his hat-trick in the final minute.

New Zealand's next match is against Scotland today.

In other first round matches, China beat Scotland 2-1 and Austria came from behind to draw 2-2 with Malaysia.

New Zealand 6 (Andy Hayward 3, Nick Wilson 2, Phil Burrows), Wales 2 (Richard Gay 2). Halftime: 3-0.