New Zealand

New Zealand finished third at the Olympic hockey qualifiers at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland after a 3-2 victory over Germany on Sunday.

It was the third time the Kiwi side had been down 0-2 and the third time they had escaped with either a draw or win.

New Zealand scored the winning goal with around 30 seconds left on the game clock in what was a frantic finish.

Captain Suzie Muirhead was instrumental in the win scoring her sides first goal from a penalty shot but also leading by example while vice-captain Di Weavers was dedicated at the back of the field and took a powerful blow in the chest from a German shot.

The home side managed a good penalty corner total of eight compared to Germany's four and had 13 shots from the field while Germany managed eight.

Experienced German player Heike Latzsch opened the score in the match in the sixth minute by running into the circle on the left and flicking the ball at keeper Helen Clarke who saved the ball into Rachel Sutherland`s feet but the ball deflected into the goal.

It was unfortunate play for Sutherland who had missed the majority of the tournament with injury.

Just over a minute into the second spell and Germany scored their second goal thanks again to hard work by Latzsch with Nadine Ernsting-Krienke scoring.

New Zealand then spent a period of play attacking with two penalty corners eventually Muirhead was a awarded a penalty shot which she duly put past German keeper Louisa Walter to get her side on the scoreboard.

Striker Jamie Provan scored the equaliser ten minutes into the half after a rebound from a Niniwa Roberts-Lang his into the circle.

Both sides continued to attack in the remaining time but it was the home side which scored the winning goal with just over a minute on the clock as Roberts-Lang deflected a powerful Weavers cross into the goal.

For coach Ian Rutledge the win was the best possible finish he could hope for even with only pride riding on the result.

"Full credit to the girls. It was awesome. Also full credit to Suzie (Muirhead). She was the hear and soul of the team and when we were flat in the first half she sparked us up. She had a fantastic tournament.

"It was extremely important for us to finish this way for our confidence," said Rutledge.

Another player Rutledge singled out for her efforts during the tournament was Manawatu's Emily Naylor, 18 at halfback who played every minute of game time for New Zealand during their six matches.

"She was our rising star of the tournament. She played every minute and it says a lot for her. She is extremely capable.

"In my mind we were always a good side but this performance justifies it in the minds of the players. I always felt this group of players could be successful regardless of the opposition they were up against."

Japan win

Japan won the tournament beating Spain in a final which featured just one early goal.

The 1-0 win was a reverse of their earlier loss to Spain in group play however the Japanese organisation in both attack and defence was too strong this time and gave the side the win.

The goal was scored by Naoko Saito, her third goal of the tournament after some messy Spanish defence in the sixth minute.

The remainder of the game was defensive with Spain struggling to make an attacking impact and earning just one penalty corner while Japan had seven.

Japan also had the better of the circle penetrations, breeching the Spanish circle 21 times while Span only got inside Japan's circle on nine occasions.

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