CWG hockey: New Zealand women through to semis

NEW DELHI - New Zealand made the most of the easy offerings from England for a 4-1 win that put them in the semi-finals of the women’s hockey competition at the 19th Commonwealth Games here Friday.

With three wins in as many matches, the Kiwis moved to nine points to confirm their semi-final spot from Pool B while England remained on six from their two wins.

“It is certainly a nice feeling to reach the semi-finals, but we don’t want to look too far ahead as the other spots are still to be filled,” said Kiwi team coach Mark Hager of Australia.

In the tight first-half, England went ahead on a 14th minute goal by Ashley Ball but New Zealand bounced back in the 25th through Samantha Harrison before taking a vital 2-1 lead seconds before the half-time when Katie Glynn scored the first of her three goals for a hat-trick.

“I thought we played better in the second-half, but more crucially, Samy (Samanta Harrison) was in the right place at the right time to get us the equaliser,” Hager summed up.

The England camp was obviously disappointed, but conceded that they were beaten by the better team on the day.

“New Zealand were better than us. They broke us down in the second-half and we did not play well,” said England team coach Danny Kerry.

The defeat put England in a must-win situation when they go up against Malaysia in their final league match while the Kiwis face Canada.

— Indo-Asian News Service