NZ Men hit Canada for six in Commonwealth Games opener

The New Zealand Men have muscled their way past Canada with a 6-2 result in their opening match at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The Kiwis held a 1-0 halftime lead after a tightly fought opening period before the floodgates opened with a wave of black after the break.

Kane Russell got his side off the mark in the 28th minute when he flicked a penalty corner variation into the back of the net.

Less than a minute into the third quarter Nic Woods doubled New Zealands lead with a powerful drag flick of his own beating all defenders on its way into the goal.

With Canada pushing desperately to muster a comeback, the Kiwis were off running in the other direction and made it 3-0 in the 40th minute when George Muir pulled off a fantastic sliding touch to score.

New Zealand added two more in the following two minutes with Dane Lett flicking in a penalty corner before Stephen Jenness delivered a punishing goal shot from the top of the circle.

Canada pulled two goals back through James Kirkpatrick and Gordon Johnston but it was the Kiwis day with a 60th minute Hugo Inglis field goal icing the result.

Head coach Darren Smith said it was pleasing to put together a strong performance against a high quality Canada side.

"Canada would have been lining that game up and theyre a tough team so to be able to do a good job, particularly in the middle of the game was a really good result for us," he said.

"I was really happy with how we accumulated through the second and third quarters and we played some good hockey, we also left a few opportunities on the park through some solid attacking play.

"We now focus on our next game against South Africa and we know they will come ready to rock, you can guarantee it. We always have tough battles against them - theyll be quick and aggressive."

The New Zealand Men have a recovery day tomorrow ahead of their next clash against South Africa at 6:30pm (NZ time) on Sunday, with live coverage on TVNZ Games Online (www.tvnz.co.nz).

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New Zealand 6: (Kane Russell, Nic Woods, George Muir, Dane Lett, Stephen Jenness, Hugo Inglis)

Canada 2: (James Kirkpatrick, Gordon Johnston)

Halftime: New Zealand 1-0



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ