Hockey: Black Sticks poised for top 2 finish

By DAVID LEGGAT

New Zealand are determined to control their own destiny at the Olympic qualifying tournament this week - and that means maintaining their unbeaten record against the Ukraine at Lloyd Elsmore Park today.

A draw against Great Britain and a 5-1 win over Ireland have set the Black Sticks up perfectly to seal a top two finish in their pool.

That would nail a spot in Athens without having to take the perilous path through the crossover playoff system to find the fifth and final qualifier from the 10 teams in Auckland.

"It all comes down to controlling the controllables," New Zealand forward Jaimee Provan said yesterday. "We can control our own fate. We don't want to have to worry about who beats who."

The North Harbour striker played a significant part in the win over the Irish, bagging two of the goals in a win as convincing as the scoreline suggests. The other goals came from hard-hitting Niniwa Roberts-Lang, Kayla Sharland and Lizzie Igasan.

Provan admitted it did her good to find her touch after a nervy start against world No 5 Great Britain.

"That's something I've learned from and yesterday was a lot better.

"We needed a lot of patience but we knew the goals would come. We just needed to keep working it round, keep possession and in the end they did come."

The Blacks Sticks are world No 9, the Ukraine are the pool outsiders at No 15 and, having lost 1-0 to Ireland and 2-1 to Germany, are all but gone from top-two reckoning.

In Provan's eyes that's good reason to be on guard today.

"They are the sort of team who could rob us of our dream if we don't concentrate.

"They're a really nuggety team with not a lot of structure and they get in your face. They'll get as many back as they can and we'll need to be really patient with the ball."

The Germans' 2-1 win over Britain yesterday turned pool A on its head.

After their 2-2 draw against the Black Sticks on Friday's opening day, the British are in real danger of missing the top two.

If New Zealand beat the Ukraine they go to seven points. The maximum the British can reach is now seven, therefore a draw against Germany in their final game will be enough for the Black Sticks to dust off their passports.

Provan said the Black Sticks were determined not to get ahead of themselves, but she conceded it was difficult to shake the pool permutation completely out of the mind.

The players are keen to avoid Plan B - the sudden death knockout route - and victory today will be a big step towards achieving that.

But alongside Britain's problems, New Zealand face a stroll in the sun today. The British could not turn possession into goals against the gritty Germans and it could conceivably cost them a trip to Athens.

The way pool B is shaping up the playoff could be between the world's No 5 and No 6 teams, certainly not part of any pre-tournament speculation.

Spain and Japan head pool B on six points, but world No 11 Japan must still face the world No 7 Spanish and sixth-ranked Koreans. Korea and the United States have one point.