Water polo: NZ miss quarter-finals at Youth Water Polo Championships

Bernadette Doyle grasps for the ball..

New Zealand has narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter finals after losing 15-9 to Italy last night at the FINA World Women's Youth Water Polo Championships in Auckland

It was a do or die game and nerves were apparent, but youngster Morgan McDowall came out firing to score two goals in the opening minute and take the Kiwis into the lead.

Italy's win was not predetermined and it could have been anyone's game before the first blow of the whistle.

The closeness was emphasised by the number of times the teams drew even, with each goal by Italy matched by New Zealand until Italy was up 9-7 at half-time.

Before the game New Zealand Coach, Davor Carevic, said it was up to the girls to perform like they did in the first half of the game against Russia the night before.

"If they can keep at that level of play from start to finish then we have a good chance of coming out on top," says Carevic.

The tournament is being played with just 11 of the 13-player rosters, with 25 seconds possession time and 15 seconds exclusion periods. This makes for a much faster style of game with more shots and plenty of opportunity for goals.

Left hander Bernadette Doyle caused problems for Italy, earning exclusions and scoring two goals including a penalty in the last quarter.

"We just didn't take all of the opportunities that we had, even myself I missed quite a few opportunities."

"I think our nerves probably got the better of us, we were behind so we were always chasing them," says Doyle.

It was the Kiwis last match in the preliminary round and they will now play for positions 9-12 on Saturday after competing against Canada tomorrow, Friday 16 December.

Japan defeated Mexico this afternoon putting Mexico in 15th place. Japan and South Africa will compete at 9.30am on Friday 16 December for 13th and 14th in the world championships.

Russia, Netherlands, Greece and Hungary earned a day off today as they progress straight into Friday's quarter finals.