Five Test Series New Zealand vs. Japan – Black Sticks defeat Japan 2-1 in second test
New Zealand’s Black Sticks managed to beat the Japanese Women’s hockey team 2-1 in the second day of the five test series on March 12 at the Gallagher Hockey Centre in Hamilton.
A minute’s silence was observed before the game to show respect to the March 11 earthquake – tsunami victims in Japan.
After last day’s pronouncement from the Japanese hockey management that the team’s families are safe at home from the disaster resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it was assured that the series would continue.
This second test match turned out to be an answer for the last match’s defeat. New Zealand Women’s team showed quite an improvement by squaring the series with a 2-1 victory over the Japanese players.
The first half was found to be overpowered by the Black Sticks with a dominating possession of the ball, enabling them to score in the opening minutes of the match. In the sixth minute of the first half New Zealand’s Anita Punt struck a quick edgy hit towards
Jan Burrows who passed it over to Katie Glynn. As soon as Glynn found a gap, she inaugurated the score by slotting a goal home for the lead.
The Black Sticks were found more confident and determined in the field but their coach Mark Hager was still not content and felt a need of further improvements with the team.
A number of opportunities came their way, but New Zealand’s forward Clarissa Eshuis availed one of these by scoring the second goal for the team in the 30th minute penalty corner. The score was 2-0 over Japan.
At this point, the Japanese Women fought back with many chances to score but failed to get a winning attempt until the final few seconds of the conclusive first half. Japan’s Yukari Yamamoto closed the match with an opening goal for the team, putting the
score at 2-1.
The second half was a balanced fight from both the ends. The Black Sticks seemed less impressive than the first half, allowing Japan to dominate the field with the ball possession.
At this point of the match, the defensive side of both teams showed good control and did not allow any more goals on the board. One of the stand-outs was Danielle Jones, a 19-year old playing her debut.
The match finally ended up with New Zealand’s win over Japan by 2-1, hence, balancing the five test series by 1-all. The next test match is on March 14 at the same venue in Hamilton. However, the next two matches will be played at North Harbour Hockey Stadium
on March 16 and 17 respectively.
Tags: