|You are in: Hockey|
Friday, 2 August, 2002, 16:47 GMT 17:47 UK
NZ storm into hockey final
New Zealand 7-1 Pakistan
New Zealand enjoyed a remarkable victory against Pakistan in the men's hockey semi-final on Friday.
Three goals in the first half and a further four after the break gave the underdogs a stunning win.
Pakistan had never lost to their opponents, but they never looked like keeping that proud record in tact.
But his New Zealand counter-part was understandably brimming with pride after such a famous win.
"The coach does not always call it right but our plans worked well today," said Kevin Towns.
"I thought the match would have been tighter with not so many goals.
"But if you study Pakistan's performances they have not performed well here. They have struggled and they are in a rebuilding process."
New Zealand set the tone for the match with two goals in the opening three minutes.
Umesh Parag got the first with just 50 seconds on the clock and then Bevan Hari added a second on their very next attack to stun Pakistan.
The shell-shocked Pakistan goalkeeper Ahmed Alam was then promptly replaced between the posts by Muhammad Qasim.
But it was not long before Qasim suffered the same fate as his predecessor as Phillip Burrows scored his side's third with a simple tap-in from a yard out.
Pakistan immediately put their opponents on the back foot in the second half in search of the goal that would put them back into the match.
New Zealand goalkeeper Paul Woolford made two great saves from two quick-fire penalty corners, but could not prevent Muhammed Nadeem finding the net from a third.
Nadeem's strike gave him his 200th international goal.
But any hopes of a comeback were dashed four minutes later as Blair Hopping deflected a Burrows effort from a short corner.
Hayden Shaw, the competition's top scorer, added the fifth with just 10 minutes to go.
And Burrows completed a remarkable scoreline with the sixth and seventh goals in the final stages.
Earlier in the day, the minor places in the competition were decided.
England beat Canada 6-3 to clinch fifth place, and Wales put seven without reply past Barbados to finish in seventh place.
Other top Hockey stories:
Links to more Hockey stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend|
Links to more Hockey stories