Poacher Thorpe sets up victory

Black Sticks coach Mark Hager has credited Northland star Anna Thorpe's role in the Black Sticks' opening win of the women's hockey tournament at the Commonwealth Games.
Thorpe played a defining role in her side's 5-1 win over Games minnows Wales, showing her poaching ability with two tidy second-half rebound collects off penalty corner deflections.
A slick second half, described by Hager as a blueprint for the rest of the tournament, carried New Zealand to victory. They netted four second half goals, including Thorpe's double, in a dominant opener in their hunt for their first Commonwealth Games medal since 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
New Zealand looked ordinary in the first half. They went ahead in the 18th minute to a goal from Katie Glynn, only to concede the advantage when Wales' Abigail Wellsford scored right on halftime, slipping the ball over the top of prone Black Sticks' keeper Beth Jurgeleit in her 100th international.
Hager demanded, and got, a more cohesive effort in the second half, although the final scoreline could have been even more lopsided, but for skipper Kayla Sharland missing a penalty stroke when her shot deflected off the right hand post.
New Zealand's second half goals came from Gemma Flynn, Thorpe's double and a drag flicking Clarissa Eshuis.
Hager was particularly pleased at the manner of Thorpe's goals after he identified scrambling in the goalmouth as an area of weakness.
"Anna was Johnny on the spot for us today so I'm particularly pleased for Anna because she's worked hard at rebounding.
"We identified it as an area of weakness over the last 12 or 16 months, hunting for any scraps off the keeper's pads.
"It's not a specific role of Anna's but she did it well today, getting in there and showing how it's done.
"There's an element of luck to it because sometimes the ball doesn't fall where you think it'll fall, but if we have players in and around looking to make it happen then hopefully we'll continue to put away our chances."
Heat in Delhi was a factor, with the mercury reaching 35C yesterday, combined with high humidity. It was hotter than they'd experienced at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, with overheated players rotated regularly by Hager and slipping on ice vests whenever they were off the field.
Hager used six substitutions in the first 10 minutes to combat the mid-morning heat and will use the strategy again.
Scorers: New Zealand 5 (Katie Glynn 18m, Gemma Flynn 37, Anna Thorpe 51, 59, Clarissa Eshuis 68) Wales 1 (Abigail Wellsford 33) HT: 1-1.