ESP V NZL ( 5th / 6th ) Hockey World League Semi-Final Buenos Aires 2015

ESP

3 - 1

NZL

Match Review ESP - NZL 3-1

ESP v NZL (5th/6th) HighlightsPosted June 14, 2015

Match 31: Spain v New Zealand 3-1 (1-1)

Spain’s Red Sticks kept their Olympic hopes alive after getting the better end on New Zealand’s Black Sticks in the 5th place playoff of the Argentina Hockey World League Semi-Final in Buenos Aires. Albert Beltran, Gabriel Dabanch and Andres Mir were the goal-scoring heroes at this 3-1 win.

New Zealand entered the match with intense focus and convincingly grabbed the lead through a phenomenal goal scored by Simon Child (13’). The Black Sticks captain found the net after great work by George Muir.

The Red Sticks found a gap to force the equaliser when Albert Beltran (26’) slotted home the rebound of a Jordi Carrera penalty corner flick. The score was tied at 1-1 at halftime and Spain came out sharp scoring after 43 seconds. Gabriel Dabanch deflected a pass coming from Manel Terraza (31’) to give his Red Sticks the lead.

The lead gave Spain confidence to push forward. The Red Sticks had more ball possession and created a few more promising opportunities in the third quarter they could not capitalize on. New Zealand forced a penalty corner at the end of the third quarter but Xavi Lleonart managed to block the shot.

The last quarter saw the Black Sticks earning a penalty corner but again, they were unable to get the shot away. With the minutes ticking down, Spain defended well and focussed on counter-attacks. New Zealand took full risk and replaced their goalkeeper Devon Manchester by an 11th field player but the effort did not pay off.

Instead, Spain were winning possession and Andres Mir (56’) pushed the ball into the empty goal to secure the 3-1 victory.

Thoughts on the match

Gabriel Dabanch (ESP)
“My goal came in a very important moment. We were pushing really hard before this but couldn’t score. This was very important for the game. We had to win today to keep our chances open to qualify for the Olympics and we still believe in it.”

Colin Batch (NZL)
“We started very well and had a good first half but then we didn’t perform when the pressure came on and we need to learn how to do this. We didn’t play collectively in the important moments of the game. This is something we need to develop further. Our next step is to try to qualify through the Oceania Cup and we know that were are capable of doing this.”

Goals

Team	Minute	Shirt #	Player	Action	Score
NZL	13	6	CHILD Simon	FG	0 - 1
ESP	26	27	BELTRAN Albert	PC	1 - 1
ESP	31	14	DABANCH Gabriel	FG	2 - 1
ESP	56	13	MIR Andres	FG	3 - 1

ESP

Minute	Shirt #	Name	Goals
X	1	CORTES Quico
X	3	ENRIQUE Sergi
X	5	PEREZ-PLA Bosco
X	7	DELAS Miki
5	8	RUIZ Vincenc
6	9	SANTANA Ricardo
X	12	CARRERA Jordi
5	13	MIR Andres	1
X	14	DABANCH Gabriel	1
Bench	16	FERNANDEZ Mario
X	17	LLEONART Xavi
X	19	SALLES Marc
X	20	PIERA Salvador
4	21	CASASAYAS Alex
X	22	TERRAZA Manel
X	25	QUEMADA Pau
9	27	BELTRAN Albert	1
5	28	IGLESIAS Alvaro
		Team Manager	HERRERA Bernar
		Head Coach	SOYEZ Frederic
		Stand-In Manager	RODRIGUEZ Icenk
		Physiotherapist	BROS Arturo
		Assistant Coach	SALA Ramon
		Physiotherapist	MARCH Jaume

NZL

Minute	Shirt #	Name	Goals
X	4	HAIG Nick
X	5	HAYWARD Andy
X	6	CHILD Simon	1
5	9	HILTON Blair
X	10	ARCHIBALD Ryan
Bench	15	ENERSEN George
5	17	WOODS Nic
X	18	BURROWS Phil
X	20	MANCHESTER Devon
9	21	RUSSELL Kane
X	22	TARRANT Blair
X	24	PANCHIA Arun
X	25	McALEESE Shea
5	27	JENNESS Stephen
9	28	ROWSELL Dwayne
6	29	INGLIS Hugo
X	30	MUIR George
X	31	EDWARDS Steve
		Team Manager	LESLIE Chris
		Head Coach	BATCH Colin
		Stand-In Manager	WOOLFORD Paul
		Assistant Coach	COLLINS Bryce
		Medical Doctor	McLAREN James (Dr)
		Physiotherapist	LEE Peter
		Video Technician	LALA Hemant
		Physical Trainer	LOGAN Scott
		Psychologist	THOMPSON Campbell

DNP = Did not participate
S = Suspended
DSQ = Disqualified

Match Officials

Role	Official
Umpire 1	GRIME Murray
Umpire 2	MEJZLIK Jakub
Reserve Umpire	SCALA Maximiliano
Video Umpire	NEL Deon
Judge 1	STEWART Tony
Judge 2	BURT Josh
Technical Officer	ALEMAN Luis