KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand women's hockey team were beaten 5-1 by China in the opening game of their five-match tour of China yesterday.
They were down 3-0 at halftime and China added a further two goals in the second half of their first test at the Shanghai Minhang Hockey Stadium.
New Zealand's only goal came from Midlands forward Gemma Flynn, 17.
The tour is part of the team's buildup for the Beijing Olympics in August.
Coach Kevin Towns was naturally disappointed with the result and because his team had failed to capitalise on opportunities.
On the upside, he said they conceded just one penalty corner.
"It was at the very end, in the last four minutes. We've been conceding between five and seven a game," he said.
He said four goals - two against the run of play - came from counter-attacks after the New Zealanders had lost possession.
"They (China) were good at their breaks ... the first two goals were definitely against the run of play.
"`If I look at my stats, which I work off quite a lot at the moment in terms of as we prepare for the games in Beijing, they will say very clearly that we had a pretty equal running in the first 30 minutes of the game, even though we were three-zip down, in terms of attacking 25s and circle penetration.
"We had a number of opportunities that we didn't finish, which is disappointing. From a statistics point of view, I'm a little happier than I was, but obviously it's a bit of a concern that we gave away four pretty straight forward counter-attacks where we just didn't have the numbers or sheer pace to deal with it.
"We're playing our game which is slightly more expansive than we might do in Beijing, but we have to learn."
Towns said it was encouraging to finally see Kayla Sharland back in action after a while.
"She struggled a bit with match fitness but played pretty well. Kyrstal Forgesson had a good game up front."
The second test will be played on Friday night (NZ time).
Result: China 5 NZ 1 (Gemma Flynn), Halftime: 3-0.
- NZPA
