11.15pm
New Zealand cranked up their Olympic men's hockey preparations with a creditable 2-2 draw against Pakistan here today.
In an improved showing from yesterday's 2-3 loss to Korea, ranked fourth in the world, New Zealand kept pace with fifth-ranked Pakistan thanks to goals from Phillip Burrows and David Kosoof.
Burrows opened the
scoring with a backhand shot from the top of the circle to make it 1-0 at halftime.
Pakistan stormed back in the second half and New Zealand were forced to defend for long periods, but they broke out against the run of play to score their second.
Wayne McIndoe slipped an overhead pass to Kosoof who had a one on one with the goalkeeper and safely put the shot away for his second goal in two days.
Coach Kevin Towns was satisfied with the effort, just five days out from their tough tournament opener against Australia.
"It was an excellent result, they're not far off where I want them to be now," Towns said.
"It was a very good first half and then we stood up to some pressure in the second."
The only concern for Towns was trying to find a midfield combination in the probable absence of key man Ryan Archibald.
Several options were trialled today, with mixed success.
Archibald remains highly unlikely to be passed fit to play by Thursday's cutoff point, after having broken his leg in June.
Were Archibald ruled out, Kosoof would take his place in the 16-man Olympic squad.
New Zealand's final warm up match is against Germany on Thursday.
- NZPA
