Hockey: Victory comes at a cost

By TERRY MADDAFORD

A 2-1 come-from-behind win by New Zealand over England under-21 in London yesterday came at a cost.

The visitors were without captain Simon Towns, who is nursing a slight hamstring injury, and Hymie Gill, who rolled an ankle in training.

The problems spilled over to the game when key defender Brett Leaver limped off with a slight calf strain after only 10 minutes.

Towns hopes he will be fit to play England tomorrow morning, but Gill will almost certainly miss the remaining warm-up games. He should be fit for the first match of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Edinburgh against Egpyt on Wednesday.

Coach Kevin Towns is hopeful Leaver will be fit to play England.

"Brett needs as much game time as possible after missing the Indian series," Towns said.

"He is a key part of our penalty corners, and adds to our defensive structure."

Against the under-21 side, New Zealand began slowly and went a goal down about the time Leaver was being replaced.

The home side retained that lead at halftime, but Dean Couzins got the visitors back to 1-1 by converting a penalty stroke after a shot from Phil Burrows had been stopped illegally.

Burrows scored the winner with 25 minutes remaining when he deflected a well-taken penalty corner.

The full international against England (6 am NZ time) will give Towns a good line on his team's standing.

As Great Britain, the home side finished sixth at the Sydney Olympics.