New Zealand women's hockey coach Mark Hager got the improvement he was looking for when the Black Sticks beat Australia 3-2 in a nail-biting Champions Trophy clash in Amsterdam today.
It was New Zealand's first win over Australia in Champions Trophy competition, and their first over Australia in any competition since the 2009 Oceania Cup final win by penalty strokes.
And it showed the more concentrated effort Hager demanded, after yesterday's opening 0-1 loss to Germany.
The Black Sticks started with the same fury and gusto they showed against Germany, but this time they converted their chances.
"It was a pleasing performance, we are here to see how we are tracking against the best teams in the world and we knew that if we played well today we could come away with a win," Hager said afterwards.
Two goals in two minutes through Katie Glynn and Krystal Forgesson allowed the Black Sticks to race to a 2-0 lead after 11 minutes.
Australia had pressed hard early on, forcing the first penalty corner of the game in the eighth minute but a New Zealand counterattack saw Glynn go one-on-one with Australian keeper Toni Cronk.
Glynn created the space she needed superbly, slamming the ball into the bottom right hand corner to make it 1-0.
Barely a minute later, Australia were again on the back foot. Cathryn Finlayson sprinted down the right hand side, crossed to Glynn who then teed up the perfect shot for Krystal Forgesson to smack into the back of the net.
Co-captain Kayla Sharland was happy with the step-up in intensity from her team after a less-than-satisfactory opening effort.
"As a team we wanted to take a step forward following yesterday's game, we knew we had to put the pressure on and get in behind the Aussies, and I think these two goals were definitely a result of that," she said.
However Australia regained momentum, forcing two penalty corners in quick succession.
New Zealand keeper Bianca Russell proved equal to the task, pulling off two excellent saves, and New Zealand went into the break with a 2-0 lead.
The Black Sticks extended their lead to 3-0 in the 44th minute thanks to a stunning Charlotte Harrison pass which found Cathryn Finlayson free in front of an open goal to tap in from three metres out.
Australia regathered, and were rewarded for constant pressure when Jade Close knocked the ball in at the far post with 18 minutes to go.
The Black Sticks then came under the hammer, and when Alanas Millington and Finlayson were shown yellow cards, Australian Casey Eastham took advantage and scored with six minutes of the game remaining.
Australia was threatened on attack in the final five minutes, but the Black Sticks held on for the win.
New Zealand's next game is against The Netherlands at 3am on Wednesday (NZT).
