Hockey: Team hit reality

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

In 24 hours, the New Zealand women's hockey team went from the sublime to the ordinary.

Losing 1-3 to world No 3 Germany in Sydney last night should have brought the Kiwis back down to earth after their historic three-goal drubbing of world champions Australia the previous night.

But New Zealand coach Jan Borren said they had never left the ground.

"It was exciting to have a win over Australia, but we weren't over the top about it. So it's same thing today - we are not too despondent," he said.

"The reality is, when you're playing in a tri-series against the No 1 and No 3 in the world, you are going to have a tough time.

"We've come over here and had a win, a draw and a loss, and that's pretty good really."

The loss won't harm New Zealand's Olympic medal chances in 10 weeks' time. In fact, it will probably teach them a valuable lesson about keeping consistent day after day against the world's best.

The New Zealanders simply had a bad first half yesterday.

Germany scored in the very first minute, and were up 2-0 at halftime.

Kylie Foy put the Kiwis on the board with seven minutes to go, a neat deflection from a penalty corner shot. But the German forwards, led by right-wing Heiki Leatch, were too speedy for the wilting New Zealanders.

"We weren't able to close her down - that's where all our troubles came from," Borren said.

"They had had a rest day; we had played a test against the world champions 24 hours before. Those sorts of things do play a role."

It wasn't a wasted day for the New Zealanders - striker Moira Senior stood out at centre forward then left wing, while goalkeeper Anne-Marie Irving made a string of excellent saves.

Forward Suzie Pearce said the team were disappointed with their lack of consistency in the tri-series.

"We'd had two good performances and then one that wasn't up there," she said. "We can't afford to do that at the Olympics."

New Zealand did not help their chances of playing Australia in the so-called final on Saturday.

No matter how badly they play, the Aussies automatically go through to the last match, playing the better-placed visiting team.

The Germans meet Australia today, after they drew 1-1 in their first match. New Zealand play the Australians again tomorrow.