New Delhi: South Africa was in the driving seat at the beginning of the last match of Pool D, needing only to avoid losing to advance to the quarter-finals. The Black Sticks
were however decided to try and grab their slim chance but nearly suffered an early set-back when Damian Kimfley missed an incredible opportunity to give the lead to South Africa, receiving the ball in front of the open net and no defender in sight, but somehow missing his deflection.

Play was flowing fast from one end to the other, with New Zealand often creating deep breaches in the South African defense. The African Champions had their best chances on penalty-corners but were denied each time by Ben Smith in explosive form in the Black Sticks goal.

There was plenty of action in the period but neither team had anything to show on the scoreboard for their efforts and the break was reached on a scoreless tie.

Kane Russell gave the advantage to the Black Sticks in the 44th minute with a high drag flick on a penalty-corner and the onus was suddenly on South Africa to urgently score. They came agonizingly close on a penalty-corner that rolled in front of the line before going marginally wide but the New Zealanders were still in control entering the last ten minutes, with the quarter-final prospect looming bigger and bigger.

They could have strengthened their cause on yet another penalty-corner with four minutes to go but it was saved, and the end of match was torrid for both teams and their fans. New Zealand got a late yellow card but hanged on desperately to their one-goal lead to jump into second place of the group, leaving the South Africans rueing their missed opportunities earlier in the match.

Grant Edwards, Coach of the New Zealand team said, “The first half went well but with no goal, second half became very crucial for us. Team performance was good compared to previous matches. In the first half we had enough chances but team could not convert them. We had the game plan to pass the ball quickly and team followed it. Although three of our players, Harry Miskimmin, Richard Joyce and Nicholas Woods were injured, the team managed to sweep the game in our favour. We need to work on improving our defence, pole spinning and corners.”

Coach of the South Africa said, “We are disappointed to lose the match today which has thrown us out of the Tournament. We did not utilise the chances in the first half of the game and missed two clear opportunities. We made so many errors and missed the first goal which would have changed the whole game. We needed to have a balanced game needed to draw our win today but unfortunately it did not happen. We would now be satisfied if we finish at 9th or 10th spot. There was lack of practice for the team as they have played only two tournaments this year. They were not well prepared to handle the pressure.”