Black Sticks men win playoff against Argentina
Updated at 8:35 am on 10 August 2012
The New Zealand men's hockey team have finished their Olympic campaign with a 9th place playoff win against Argentina.
The Black Sticks played one of their best halves of the tournament and won 3-1 at London's Riverbank Arena on Thursday.
Stephen Jenness got the New Zealanders on the scoreboard with a goal in the 4th minute.
Richard Petherick then scored from a powerful penalty corner drag flick, before Nick Wilson took a reverse stick shot, firing it low into the bottom left hand corner in the 28th minute.
In the second half, the New Zealanders held their 3-0 lead until the 59th minute, when Pedro Ibarra scored for Argentina from a penalty corner drag flick.
Argentina stepped the pressure up in the final 10 minutes with a number of close shots at goal, but the Black Sticks kept a tight defence and held on for the victory.
The Netherlands will play Germany in the men's hockey final. The Dutch trounced Great Britain 9-2, while Germany beat Australia 4-2.
The gold medal match will be played on Saturday.
Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand
