Under-21 Black Stick men give a disappointing closure to the series against the Project 2013 Malaysian team
The Under-21 New Zealand men’s squad closed their four-Test series against their Malaysian counterparts, Project 2013 squad, with a 1-2 defeat. However, Malaysia were the overall winners of the series with two wins, one draw and one loss.
The matches were played at the Alexander McMillan Hockey Turf in Dunedin, New Zealand from June 3-7.
The team gave a very poor display of abilities in the second half of all the matches, which reflected the team’s lack of physical fitness. The Black Stick junior team’s coach, Grant Edwards, said that fatigue cannot be considered as an explanation for such a failure at the end because both the teams had played equal number of matches.
He was disappointed with the loss and commented, "We created enough opportunities from both the field and penalty corners to at least draw or even win, so that was the disappointing thing about it. In the first half we were a bit slow in retaining the ball and took too long on the ball. Our ball skills were not good enough to stop the ball and move it on."
The next assignment for the junior team is in September after which an 18-member team will be selected for the upcoming six-nation tournament in the end of October, to be held in Malaysia.
The Under-21 junior Black Stick side may miss the opportunity to play in the next Junior Hockey World Cup, to be held in India in 2013 because majority of the current squad members will be above the age criteria to qualify for the event.
However, Edwards was convinced that the juniors got a good taste of international matches and remarked, “We've made significant progress in basic ball skills and recognition of tactical awareness on the field to get outcomes on the hockey field. Every time you play a competitive match is always a plus. You've got to play competitive games to help you get better."
According to the coach, the series against the Junior Malaysian team was a good experience for the players to learn from.
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