Hockey: Black Sticks go top with third win

Ryan Archibald scored the opener for New Zealand. Photo / Steven McNicholl

The Black Sticks have won their third consecutive match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a 3-1 win over Pakistan in Ipoh, Malaysia last night.

The victory puts New Zealand well clear at the top of the table as the only team with three victories.

The Black Sticks made a strong start with a Ryan Archibald goal and an Andy Hayward penalty corner putting the Kiwis 2-0 up after just 11 minutes.

They held on to the 2-0 lead through to the break and extended it to 3-0 early in the second spell when Nick Wilson put away a penalty corner rebound.

Pakistan responded with a goal in the 44th minute and put the Kiwis under some immense pressure in the last 20 minutes. But some resolute defence, in particular from goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex, kept Pakistan scoreless for the rest of the match.

Hayward was named player of the match.

Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod said he was pleased with the team's work rate and felt that many of the errors late in the match were due to fatigue in the humid conditions.

The Black Sticks now have two days off - a bye and a rest day - before meeting the tournament's top seeds Great Britain on Wednesday night (NZ time).

The break will give Ben Collier time to recover from a hit to the face last night which required stitches.