Hockey: NZ side caught napping early

SYDNEY - New Zealand made the worst possible start before going down 1-3 to Australia in their opening men's hockey test in Melbourne last night.

The New Zealanders were not awake to an Australian move from the opening whistle and conceded a goal after just seven seconds to Kookaburra forward Lachlan Vivian-Taylor.

A 60m pass from the back found the New Zealand defence short on numbers.

The wake-up call saw New Zealand improve as the match went on and they had the better of play in the latter stages of the second half.

Australia went 2-0 ahead through a crisp goal from a penalty corner to Paul Gaudoin in the 24th minute.

New Zealand pulled one back on the stroke of halftime through a penalty corner strike from experienced defender Brett Leaver.

However, the home side pulled away again when Jamie Dwyer pounced on a penalty corner rebound six minutes into the second spell.

The New Zealand defence and distribution improved after that, giving some confidence for the young side with two tests remaining.

"Letting that goal in early gave Australia confidence. We just simply didn't put enough pressure on them in the first 15-20 minutes," coach Kevin Towns said.

"We probably didn't create as many chances overall as Australia, but by the end of the game there wasn't a lot in it. The players will take a lot from this."

The second test in the Manning Cup series is tomorrow afternoon, followed by the third 24 hours later.

New Zealand's world ranking has tumbled from 10th to 17th, and they were left out of this year's Olympic qualifying tournament.

To halt the slide and get New Zealand qualified for the Commonwealth Games, New Zealand Hockey has scheduled a busy programme of internationals this year.

New Zealand have already played Malaysia, they are facinge Australia this week and India tour New Zealand next month.

Australia 3 ( Lachlan Vivian-Taylor 1, Paul Gaudoin 24, Jamie Dwyer 51) New Zealand 1 (Brett Leaver 34). Halftime: 2-1.

- NZPA