Korea hit for six by New Zealand

Korea 1-6 New Zealand

The Black Sticks got their Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy campaign  back on track with a stunning 6-1 win over Korea, a team ranked one place above them in the FIH World Rankings. Shea McAleese (2), Phil Burrows, Nick Wilson, Shay Neal and Andrew Hayward were all on target as New Zealand gave their many fans in the stadium plenty to feel happy about.

Despite the score-line, Korea were far from outplayed in the game, being denied on numerous occasions by some fantastic goalkeeping from New Zealand’s Kyle Pontifex.  However, few can dispute that the host nation were worthy winners of this contest.

New Zealand will qualify for Pool C (the Championship Pool) if they defeat The Netherlands on Tuesday, while Korea are now certain to in Pool D and where they will play for 5-8.

The first half was played at breakneck speed, with play moving quickly from one end of the field to the other. Both sides had great chances to score ahead of Shea McAleese’s 25^th minute open play strike which found the bottom right corner from the top of the circle. Korea were level two minutes from the end of the half through Kwang Jin Kim finished off from close range moments after Phil Burrows had been robbed of possession in the Korean half. Burrows made amends for his error just a minute late when he bundled the ball home before wheeling away in celebration, much to the delight of the home crowd.  

Conceding just before half time was a big blow for Korea, and their misery was compounded when McAleese made the score 4-1 with his second of the game just one minute after the re-start. 2010 FIH young Player of the Year nominee Nick Wilson was the creator, and it was he who soon added the fourth with a well taken reverse stick shot in the 52^nd minute. Korea battled hard to find a way back into the match, but New Zealand keeper Kyle Pontifex was in superb form and denied at least three clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities to maintain his team’s lead.

The result was put beyond all doubt when Shay Neal chipped in a field goal to make the score 5-1 before the scoring was completed by a cracking penalty corner flick from Andy Hayward. 

 

Korea – New Zealand 1-6 – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

> New Zealand record their biggest CT win ever by beating Korea 6-1.
> The Black Stick also broke their record for most goals scored in a CT match.
> New Zealand now progress to the next round if they beat Netherlands tomorrow, even if Germany beat Korea by a big margin, as NZL's goal difference is better than that of the Dutch.
> Korea will move to Pool D and play for rank 5-8.
> Korea suffered their joint biggest CT defeat. The last time they lost a CT match by a 5-goal margin was in 2008 when they went down 7-2 against Spain. This was also the last time Korea conceded at least 6 goals in a CT match.
> Nick Wilson and Andy Hayward became the first NZL players to score 5 career CT goals. They moved one goal clear of Simon Child who is on 4 CT career goals.

 

Korea – New Zealand (5 Dec 2011, 16:05) – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

Head-to-heads
> This is the first ever Champions Trophy match featuring Korea and New Zealand. 
> Six-time CT participants New Zealand and 10-time CT participants Korea have never before participated in a CT tournament together.
> These teams last met at the London Cup 4-nations tournament in July 2011, when New Zealand won 2-0 in the 1st round only to be defeated 4-3 by Korea in the final. Simon Child scored once on both occasions.
> Last May, Korea and New Zealand drew 1-1 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, goals scored by Benjamin Collier and Jang Jong-Hyun (PC).
> The last encounter between these sides at a world level event came at the 2010 World Cup in Delhi and saw New Zealand beat Korea 2-1 through goals by Andy Hayward (PC), Dean Couzins (PS) and Lee Nam-Yong (PS).
 
 
Korea Facts
> Korea make their first CT appearance since 2009 when they finished third, their joint second best CT result after winning silver in 1999.
> Korea are currently ranked sixth in the world and are the highest ranked Asian team on the world ranking.
> Korea are the only team that were not awarded a penalty corner on Day 1 at Auckland 2011.
> Korea failed to score in CT competition for the first time since Melbourne 2009 when they were beaten 4-0 by Australia.
 
 
New Zealand Facts
> New Zealand make their 6th Champions Trophy appearance. Last year, they finished 6th and last. Their best result came at the inaugural CT in 1978 when they finished fourth (of five).
> New Zealand are currently ranked seventh in the world.
> The Black Sticks lost 2-1 to European champions Germany on Day 1, with Hugo Inglis scoring the New Zealand goal.
> Andy Hayward, Simon Child and Nick Wilson have all scored 4 goals in 7 CT matches. They are New Zealand’s top goalscorers in Champions Trophy competition.
> Dean Couzins was appointed as captain to the Black Sticks in November 2011. He takes over from Phil Burrows who has been the Black Sticks captain for the last three years.