AUCKLAND–New Zealand’s Olivia Merry became the Black Sticks women’s
all-time top scorer by netting all of her team’s goals in a superb 4-1
FIH Hockey Pro League victory over Belgium on Sunday (2 February),
while the men of Australia and Belgium were also winners on Match Day
10. The women’s meeting between Australia and Great Britain was
canceled due to torrential rain and thunderstorms in Sydney, reports
FIH.
In Auckland, the Black Sticks women gained a measure of revenge
against Belgium after suffering a 2-1 defeat against the lower-ranked
Europeans in Auckland on Saturday. The Red Panthers were in the lead
for most of the first two-quarters thanks to Abi Raye’s 7th minute
field goal, but Merry – who top-scored in the 2019 FIH Hockey Pro
League with 15 goals in 16 matches – showed exactly why she is one of
the most feared strikers on the planet, scoring twice in both the
third and fourth quarters to give the hosts their first points of the
2020 edition, becoming New Zealand women’s all-time top scorer in the
process.
“I guess it’s good to back up a not so good performance yesterday”,
said Merry, who now has 106 international goals, one more than former
Black Sticks team-mate Anita McLaren. “I guess it [the record] hasn’t
really sunk in. I’m all about the team, and lucky in a lot of
instances to be the last one to put the ball in the back of the net.
I’ve got a fantastic team behind me.”
Belgium’s women may have been defeated, but the men’s team continued
their scintillating start to the 2020 FIH Hockey Pro League season,
defeating New Zealand for a second time in two days to make it 11
points from a possible twelve in their opening four matches on
foreign soil. The world number one ranked team opened up a two-goal
lead ahead of half time thanks to second-quarter strikes from
Alexander Hendrickx and Sebastien Dockier before New Zealand captain
Blair Tarrant’s close-range finish four minutes after half time gave
the Black Sticks, much improved from Saturday’s 6-2 defeat, the hope of
staging a comeback. However, a brilliant penalty corner strike from
Tanguy Cosyns seven minutes from the end put the result beyond all
doubt.
Player of the Match Arthur Van Doren said: “It’s always a tough game
[against New Zealand]. A good game, six points, which is what we came
for, so I’m pretty happy to go away with six points. We were a bit
sloppy with some of our goal-scoring chances, so we’ll have to look at
that, and gave them too many chances as well. There is always a lot to
improve, and I’m pretty sure the staff will analyze it and we will see
everything.”
At Sydney’s Olympic Park, Australia men claimed their first outright
win of the competition with a comprehensive 5-1 triumph over Great
Britain, adding three points to the two they claimed on Saturday’s
bonus-point win over GB to make it a fruitful Pro League weekend for
the Kookaburras. Dylan Wotherspoon’s first-quarter strike was
canceled out early in the second period by a fierce penalty corner
drag-flick from GB’s Luke Taylor, before Lachlan Sharp and Tom Craig
netted put the hosts 3-1 up at the break. Tim Brand touched home a
fourth after good work from Aran Zalewski before Trent Mitton fired
into an empty net with five minutes remaining.
“We spoke about our intent and tempo, which was probably a little bit
down in our first couple of games this season against Belgium but we
bounced back, lifted the tempo and I think it probably showed”, said
Player of the Match Tom Craig. “What you want out of the first couple
of weeks of competition is really good, the hard competition to see where
you are at so you can bench-mark your training. Tokyo is not too far
away, so we want to know where we are at so we can work on that.”
Due to torrential rain and thunderstorms in Sydney, Australia
versus Great Britain women’s match was abandoned at half time. A
penalty corner from Anna Toman early in the second quarter had
established a 1-0 lead for Great Britain before inclement weather
intervened, forcing a long delay before the eventual completion of the
period. However, worsening conditions eventually left the pitch
unplayable and therefore unable to resume, forcing the cancellation of
the contest. Under article 7.1 of the FIH Hockey Pro League
regulations, the result of Saturday’s meeting between the two teams –
a 2-1 win for Australia – is now worth double points. To see the
regulations, click here.
The FIH Hockey Pro League continues on next weekend with matches
taking place in Argentina, New Zealand and India.
FIH Hockey Pro League
Match Day 10 – Sunday 02 February 2020
North Harbour Hockey Stadium, Auckland (NZL)
Women’s result: New Zealand 4, Belgium 1 (Match 2 of 2)
Player of the Match: Olivia Merry (BEL)
Umpires: Wanri Venter (RSA), Aleisha Neumann (AUS) & Steve Rogers (AUS – video)
Men’s result: New Zealand 1, Belgium 3 (Match 2 of 2)
Player of the Match: Arthur Van Doren (BEL)
Umpires: Steve Rogers (AUS), Adam Kearns (AUS) & Wanri Venter (RSA)
Sydney Olympic Park (AUS)
Men’s result: Australia 5, Great Britain 1 (Match 2 of 2)
Player of the Match: Tom Craig (AUS)
Umpires: Javed Shaikh (IND), David Tomlinson (NZL) & Kelly Hudson (NZL – video)
Australia versus Great Britain (Match 1 of 2) – Match canceled
Umpires: Emi Yamada (JPN), Kelly Hudson (NZL) & David Tomlinson (NZL – video).
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