Great Britain 2
New Zealand 1
KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - A third successive 1-2 loss has left the Olympic Games hopes of the New Zealand women's hockey team hanging by a thread.
New Zealand lost to an unspectacular Great Britain, leaving them firmly anchored at the foot of pool B.
To make the semifinals they must
now beat the United States and hot shots Argentina, and have a series of other results go their way.
After the game, captain Lizzy Igasan was looking forward to the side putting on more complete performances in the next two games.
"We certainly can't give up now, as much as it hurts that we didn't get the points that we wanted," she said.
"We certainly didn't think about this (tournament) for over a year for that result, it's a bit sore," she said.
"Every game we've played so far I thought we'd earned ourselves a good performance and a good win, but obviously not for 70 minutes, so it's a little bit heart-breaking.
"I'm proud of the girls, they put an effort out there."
New Zealand were disrupted by the loss of key player Kayla Sharland midway through the first half, and were unable to mount their usual flow.
Midfielder Sharland was hobbled by the hamstring injury which has hampered her throughout the tournament, and in the pre-Olympic build up.
She may have to be replaced, coach Kevin Towns said.
"It's a real problem," he said. "We may have to call someone else in, as hard as it may be."
Up front, Gemma Flynn, 18, had her best match of the Olympics, troubling Great Britain with her darting runs.
New Zealand scored first in the 29th minute, when Flynn pounced on a loose ball following a penalty corner attempt by Lizzy Igasan.
That lead lasted just two minutes, with Alex Danson prodding home a Charlotte Craddock cross after New Zealand lost possession in midfield.
Great Britain went 2-1 up when Christa Cullen slipped home a penalty corner with 20 minutes to play.
Chasing an equaliser, New Zealand had penalty corners with 12 and 11 minutes left.
They could not escape the clutches of British goalkeeper Beth Storry, who shot out a leg to deny Krystal Forgesson on the second attempt.
There was still plenty to play for, Towns said.
New Zealand had to learn when to shut down the game and tighten up, he said of the goals either side of halftime.
While the Black Sticks had almost toppled powerhouses Germany in their previous outing, they did not look in that touch against Great Britain.
"There's a fair few nerves going on out there," Towns explained.
"When you're playing Germany the expectations of everyone is it's going to be a tough game and if we came out with something it would be a big prize, versus playing a team that you've targeted to win.
"There's a huge shift in pysche there, and maybe that wasn't coped with as well as it should have been."
- NZPA
* Video courtesy of Television New Zealand www.tvnz.co.nz/beijing2008
