22 Jul 2010

Black Sticks men lose in Belgium

4:27 pm on 22 July 2010

The New Zealand men's hockey team's first outing against Belgium in the European section of their tour has ended with a 5-3 loss to Belgium in Antwerp.

It's the first time the Black Sticks have been at full strength in preparation for the Champions Trophy and their coach says they lacked consistency.

But Shane McLeod 's confident it'll come in the remaining preparation games before the tournament starts in Nottingham next weekend,

Hayden Shaw scored one goal in his first match for the Black Sticks this year and Andy Hayward got the others.

There's another game against Belgium overnight and three against France in Paris over the weekend and on Wednesday.