New Zealand 16 defeated Fiji 0
Goals: NZL - Phil Burrows 6, Hayden Shaw 3, Shaun Barnett, Gareth Brooks 2, Bryce Collins, Dave Kosoof 3
Hockey New Zealand: It might not have been the preparation recommended by coaching manuals leading up to Saturday’s vital final Oceania Cup match against Australia, but New Zealand’s 16-0 thumping of Fiji certainly blew out some cob webs.
With space to move the Black Sticks pulled out a stunning bag of tricks, interchanging at ease and at pace.
Black Sticks Coach Kevin Towns, like any coach, could still find faults with his team’s performance. He felt his side pushed too many players forward and overcrowded the circle at times, but believes the side will gain confidence from their outstanding conversion rate in front of goal.
Phil Burrows led the way with a six goal array, Hayden Shaw picked up three from penalty corners and Dave Kosoof also scored a hat trick.
Burrows showed why he is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world with some spectacular finishing, as well as some silky stickwork along the back line to set up his team mates.
He pulled off several trademark reverse stick goals and nailed another classy goal towards the end of the game, slamming home the rebound from his initial shot with a reverse stick mid air volley.
Towns was pleased with the extra space and time on the ball his players created, which allowed Mitesh Patel, Simon Towns and Ryan Archibald to step up individually.
The New Zealand midfield, which was stifled the day before by Australia, revelled in the chance to break the line at ease.
Towns plans to spend time working on set penalty corner pieces leading up to Saturday, plus several other areas exposed in the video review of Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss to Australia.
Full article available from the Hockey NZ website
