Black Sticks Men defeat Great Britain Unicorns by 5-4 in a practice game in London
Black Sticks defeated Great Britain Unicorns by 5-4 in a friendly match which was played at University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick, London, on Saturday, July 9.
“While we were pleased with our attacking structures, we definitely need to tighten up at the back if we want to win next week,” Shane McLeod, the coach of the Black Sticks Men concluded after the match.
The match was quite entertaining as it was studded with nine goals. The two sides really put some wonderful efforts throughout the match and the game was decided on the last minute, when the Kiwis made an astonishing strike that led them to victory. Although
the Great Britain Unicorns led the first half with two goals to one, yet the Black Sticks came back strongly in the second half and snatched the victory.
The first half started with a clear dominance by the Kiwis, but they could not manage to convert their opportunities into goals. They came very close to score, but failed. However it was the English side that scored the opening goal of the match in the 11th minute,
when Alastair Brogdon scored on a rebound from the Kiwis’ goal-keeper, but their lead lasted for only nine minutes and the Kiwis levelled the score in the 20th minute, thanks to Simon Child. However just before the interval, Brogdon made another
strike to put his team ahead by 2-1 at interval.
The second half clearly belonged to the Kiwis as they scored the equaliser in the 38th minute, when Nick Wilson offered the final touch to a pass from Simon Child. Three minutes later, the Kiwis got the lead for first time in the match, when Shea
McAleese scored the third goal for the Kiwis. The Great Britain Unicorns too were unstoppable as they levelled the score just after moments, when David Beckett scored their third goal, but the Kiwis once again took the lead, a minute after the Great Britain
tied the knots, when Hugo Inglis made the fourth strike for the New Zealanders.
However, Richard Smith brought his team back into the match in the 65th minute by scoring another equaliser, but in the last minute of the match Steve Edwards scored the winning-goal for the Kiwis and the Black Sticks Men won the game by 5-4.
Black Sticks will play their next practice game against the similar side on Sunday, July 10 at the same venue.
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