Black Sticks lament missed opportunities
Relevant offers
Hockey
It all finished rather tamely for the New Zealand men's hockey team.
In front of a small rain soaked crowd they wandered off to the far stand and produced a haka for their loyal band of supporters who had just witnessed them sweep past Pakistan 4-2 in the Olympic playoff for seventh and eighth.
The match had been played at 11am local time, the big guns were to play later in the evening and New Zealand coach Shane McLeod and captain Ryan Archibald could only shake their heads and think "what if".
"It's been a tournament of missed opportunities," McLeod lamented.
"If we had pulled out a result here or there things would be different but one day everything is going to fall in the right hole.
"Today proved we have moved above teams like Pakistan and it is nations like Great Britain and us who are moving above the India's and Pakistan's.
"If everything had gone well we may have made the semi."
Wishful thinking or reality - time will tell.
Everything didn't go well until yesterday when New Zealand appreciated the freedom granted them by Pakistan as opposed to the tight tactical affairs against Spain and Germany when their influential players like Archibald and Phil Burrows were shut out of both games.
"It's nice to finish on a little high," Archibald said.
"I'm disappointed we did not get to play for fifth or sixth, that would have been more accurate."
Archibald has been solid on the turf and engaging off it. He's played over 200 games for New Zealand and openly admitted he was one of "three or four" players who might not be available for upcoming internationals.
"I think you'll find this is the end of the road for our No 1 goalkeeper Paul Woolford and three or four others are probably thinking about," Archibald said.
"I've not fully decided yet. I'm still playing for my Dutch club (Rotterdam) so I'll still be involved but New Zealand wise I may take a break, I'm certainly not playing everything, I need to freshen up a bit."
One player jumping out of his skin for more is lively striker Simon Child. He scored a brilliant goal yesterday to take his tally to four for the tournament, not bad for someone with a broken finger. The other goalscorers were Hayden Shaw (two from two at penalty corner time) and Gareth Brooks.
Child, a star in the making, described his hand as "90 per cent" by the end of the tournament and "70 per cent" at the start.
"It's been disappointing personally, because of the setback with my finger I wasn't at my best," he said.
"A couple of times I missed a few traps that I would normally nail but I'm just thinking first Olympics at 20 next one at 24 so I'm going to set some goals for London and we'll see how it goes."
Child has now scored 65 goals in 87 games, though 11 of those game in the world record win against Papua New Guinea.
He is now off to Rotterdam to play professionally alongside Archibald and striker Phil Burrows.
The Black Sticks showered and then sat drinking a quiet beer with their family and friends. No laughter, no slaps on the back. Opportunity missed.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Sponsored links
Lawyer faces impropriety allegations
North-South split on where to rebuild Christchurch
Women prisoners cost much more to lock up
Anger at Holmes' Waitangi remarks
Time may be right for Sanzar to expand Super Rugby
Family still dealing with loss of son
Flags and hope on Libya's uneasy anniversary
Murdoch fights back with "Sun on Sunday"
Hotchin's Waiheke property for sale
FBI foil suicide attack on US Capitol
