Hockey: Vigorous defence finishes Sharland's tournament

Kayla Sharland is a victim of the over-vigorous defences that are set to plague the women's hockey World Cup qualifying tournament, says New Zealand coach Ian Rutledge.

The Black Sticks beat lowly rated Azerbaijan 2-1 in their opening pool game in Rome yesterday, after a disastrous start when star playmaker Sharland was taken off on a stretcher in the fourth minute.

The 20-year-old suffered medial lateral damage to her left knee and will be sidelined for at least six weeks, ruling her out of the tournament.

Rutledge was unhappy with the clumsy challenge that caused the rising Palmerston North star to fall awkwardly.

He said it summed up the one-dimensional approach Azerbaijan took into the game, dropping numbers deep on to defence to deny the Black Sticks scoring opportunities.

"Their defence was relatively rugged unfortunately," Rutledge said. "We're under no illusions that the tournament is going to be like this.

"A draw against New Zealand would have been a positive result for them, and the attitude from a number of teams will be that if they can take one point off us [draw], no matter how, then they've achieved their result."

Striker Krystal Forgesson also suffered a painful blow to her foot, but was cleared of a broken bone.

Injuries have dogged New Zealand in Rome. Striker Honor Dillon was ruled out with a broken hand from a warmup game, and has been replaced by Niniwa Roberts.

New Zealand can't replace Sharland, as the injury was sustained during the tournament. Rutledge was confident he had sufficient midfield cover for the tournament through captain Suzie Muirhead, Jane Maley, Stacey Carr and Tara Drysdale. Defender Francis Kreft could also be employed further upfield.

He was thankful the injury wasn't cruciate damage, which could have affected Sharland's career.

"You can't replace a Kayla Sharland, she's one of ... the better players in world hockey.

"It was a mixed performance, we were unsettled in the first half by the injuries but had regained our composure by the end of the match," Rutledge said.

"We hit the crossbar twice in the second half and we had a stroke which was awarded, but the umpire changed her mind. There were enough chances to win comfortably." Rutledge expected the US to play defensively in their next game tomorrow.

- NZPA