Hockey: NZ men win World Cup opener

New Zealand's Marcus Child, left, battles for the ball with Korea's Hyunwoo Nam. Photo / AP

The Black Sticks Men sealed a 2-1 victory over Korea with just three minutes remaining in their opening game at the Hockey World Cup in The Hague.

It was a fitting finish given the way the Kiwis opened the match with Steve Edwards scoring just 11 seconds into the game after a superb tactical call to charge up field from the opening whistle.

New Zealand dominated the remainder of the first half but Korea were able to mount a strong comeback in the second period and equalise through a Kim Seongkyu field goal with six minutes on the clock.

But in front of a group of vocal Kiwi fans, the Black Sticks weren't done and earned back to back penalty corners as the minutes ticked away.

Four minutes out from fulltime Phil Burrows proved the hero after hitting home the deflection from Kane Russell's drag flick to ensure the Black Sticks banked all three points with a win.

Head coach Colin Batch said it was pleasing to come away with the result after being under pressure throughout the second half.

"I'm very pleased with the win. The guys wanted to start well and we certainly did that to come away with all three points," he said.

"We did well at the start of the game scoring in the first 20 seconds but I think sometimes if you score early there's a tendency to be comfortable with the situation. I don't think it was a conscious thing but Korea did mount pressure on us and had a lot of possession.
"We responded well and I thought once they equalised we played our best period of the second half so to reply with another goal was very pleasing."

The Black Sticks Men play South Africa in their second pool game on Wednesday 4th June at 12:30am (NZ time), with live coverage on SKY Sport 3.

Meanwhile, the Black Sticks Women are up against Korea at 12:30am tomorrow morning (NZ time) in Pool A.

In other results today, fellow Pool B opponents Netherlands defeated Argentina 3-1 while Germany cruised past South Africa 4-0.