Olympic wooden spoon for Black Sticks
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Hockey
The Black Sticks women's hockey team today handed in their wooden sticks for wooden spoons, rounding off their worst Olympics ever by losing 1-4 to South Africa in the playoff for 11th and 12th.
In a game peppered by inattention, inactivity and - far too often - inability, the New Zealanders handed South Africa their first win of the tournament, leaving despondent coach Kevin Towns pondering his future.
South Africa, ranked 12th in the world, had scored only two goals in the previous five pool play matches, but managed to find the back of the net four times against the eighth-ranked New Zealanders.
New Zealand did well to pull back an early South African lead when youngster Gemma Flynn deflected in off a Lizzie Igasan penalty corner in the 17th minute. But with less than two minutes until the halftime whistle, Jennifer Wilson made 2-1 to put the Black Sticks on the back foot again at the break.
When New Zealand striker Krystal Forgesson was yellow-carded early in the second half, the South Africans pounced, a fast-breaking Vida Ryan finishing off well for a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes remaining. Cindy Brown compounded the New Zealanders' misery by completing the rout 12 minutes from the final whistle.
Apart from a 1-4 loss to the United States, the Black Sticks never lost by more than one goal in any of their previous pool matches, going down 1-2 to Japan, Germany and Britain, and 2-3 to Argentina.
In contrast, the South Africans had scored only two goals in five games of pool play, those coming in a 2-5 loss to Korea, and conceded 18.
A dejected Towns was afterwards at a loss to pinpoint the reasons behind the loss.
"Their expectations are pretty high, but really they weren't on the pitch at all. It's very difficult... I don't know what to say."
The loss cemented New Zealand's worst Olympics for women's hockey, after they finished sixth in Los Angeles (1984) and Sydney (2000), and eighth in Barcelona (1992).
Towns said that while it was always difficult to come out and play the last game, he had expected much more of his players and was left doubting his future in the sport.
"It's been a massive experience for me, something that I never saw coming," Towns said after today's game.
"Obviously I have to take a hard look at myself, I can't stomach having that many losses. I have to look at myself and my own coaching - obviously it wasn't there for this tournament and maybe it's not there at all.
"I'll have to review that."
Towns said his team had been completely outplayed by the South Africans. Many players had not even managed the basics.
"Players that have been playing really well are missing traps, holding on to the ball a fraction long, and not moving it on. Our game's based around moving the ball on, and when you don't have that, it's not that much of a competition."
Although there had been some encouraging performances scattered throughout the team, Town said they had been few and far between.
"I think Gemma Flynn has been a great find, and it was good to see Kayla (Sharland) come through at the end. Lizzie Igasan has had a very good tournament too," Towns said.
"But I know what the girls are capable of and they've only showed it in a couple of games. I can't understand how you can be on a high in one point of the tournament and so low at another. We were completely outplayed today."
-NZPA
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