Black Sticks finish World Cup with win

The Black Sticks rode their luck, used some get out of jail free cards, and eventually sneaked home 5-4 over South Africa in a shoot-out to claim ninth place at the hockey World Cup in India last night.

Again, the victory posed more questions for coach Shane McLeod than providing him with the answers he was looking for.

Down a goal inside three minutes and still trailing by that at halftime, New Zealand got back to 1-1 four minutes in the second spell and took the lead within two minutes before surrendering that advantage. Again, they hit back quickly to lead 3-2.

The goal-fest continued as South Africa scored again in a frantic 11-minute burst to level 3-3 before further turning the screws in going ahead with 14 minutes to play.

For all but the last few seconds they were rarely troubled in holding on.

With the clock running down, the Black Sticks won a penalty corner. With the end-of-match hooter having already been blown, Andy Hayward stepped forward and slotted for 4-4 with his third drag flick of the half.

Sent to two periods of sudden death extra time, Hayward had a near miss on the hooter and the game went to a penalty stroke shoot-out.

The score went to 2-2 after misses from both sides, and then 4-4 before Black Sticks goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex denied the South Africans a 5-4 lead. Stand-in captain Dean Couzins then fired one low and hard to beat Erasmus Pieterse for a 5-4 win.

Despite the win McLeod was far from happy.

"We have standards which we fell short of today," he said. "Some players did not perform to the standard we were expecting. We have to give the South Africans some credit for that.

"They play a hustle and bustle style which is not easy to counter but, more importantly, they came in the game determined to finish ninth, which would have been a creditable effort. As much as I don't like to admit, there was a hint of complacency among our players and it showed.

"It is not ideal in having to play catch up, but we should be good enough to do it."

While refusing to make excuses, McLeod again reiterated how difficult it had been for his team in playing without strikers Simon Child and Phil Burrows.

"It meant a player like Nick Wilson, at just 19 years of age, had to step up as our senior striker. That is a big ask and I thought he responded to the challenge magnificently."

He was not so glowing in looking elsewhere, admitting he was now prepared to make "the hard calls" in naming his next squad.

"We will freshen our squad now. It would be a crime if we didn't introduce new players. That process has already started.

"We have the opportunity at a four-nation tournament in Nottingham in July to have a look at these players," McLeod said.

New Zealand will now likely climb one place to seventh in world rankings.

- NZPA