Wins for Black Sticks at Oceania Cup

There were some sizeable score lines during the opening day of the 2015 Oceania Cup in Stratford with Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa all taking to the field.

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The Black Sticks Women recorded their biggest ever test win after a 31-0 victory over Samoa following a 16-0 half time lead. Kirsten Pearce topped the tally with a total of six goals while Charlotte Harrison and Anita Punt scored five each.

In the later game, it was a similar story for the Black Sticks Men with Nick Wilson scoring seven field goals and James Coughlan striking five times to give the Kiwis a 37-0 win over Samoa in the final game of the day.

Image 1 of 34: Oceania Cup 2015, Stratford.

Debutant Black Stick Leo Mitai-Wells described it as the perfect first game to put on the black shirt, and he was pleased to get on the scorecard twice in the first half to help calm the nerves.

"The boys coached me well during the game and gave me some real direction - which was great."

"But it was exciting, I'm just happy to get on the turf and play with the boys as I've been training with them a while now," said Mitai-Wells, who was part of the Under-23 NZ team that competed at the Sultan of Johor Cup.

Mitai-Wells is eager for his side to now take on World No.1 Australia tomorrow night (5.30pm) and says the team will be preparing for a much more aggressive game against the trans-Tasman rivals.

Australia's debutant Joshua Beltz was noted as the highlight of the Kookaburras 17-0 win against Fiji earlier in the day.

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New South Wales' Blake Govers opened the floodgates for the Kookaburras, scoring from a penalty stroke four minutes after the starting whistle. Additional strikes from Matthew Dawson, Blake Govers, Trent Mitton and Flynn Ogilvie, coupled with doubles from Chris Ciriello and Glenn Turner, pushed the Kookaburras in front with a comfortable 9-0 lead coming into halftime.

Click here for more information on the 2015 Oceania Cup. Tickets are cheaper to purchase online than at the gate.

The final men's and women's games are live on Sky, with all other games livestreamed on the Hockey NZ website

here

.

The Oceania Cup is an Olympic Qualifying event for the Black Sticks Men with a tournament win securing them a spot at next year's Rio Olympics. The Black Sticks Women have already qualified but are playing for valuable ranking points.

RESULTS
Australia Men vs Fiji
Full time: 17-0 (Australia win)
Half time: 9-0
Australia goal scorers: Blake Govers x3, Matthew Dawson, Chris Ciriello x2, Trent Mitton x3, Glenn Turner x4, Flynn Ogilvie, Jamie Dwyer x2, Joshua Beltz
Black Sticks Women vs Samoa
Full time: 31-0 (NZ win)
Half time: 16-0
New Zealand goal scorers: Anita Punt x5, Charlotte Harrison x5, Petrea Webster x2, Sophie Cocks x2, Pippa Hayward x3, Kirsten Pearce x6, Brooke Neal, Ella Gunson, Liz Thompson x4, Olivia Merry x2.
Black Sticks Men vs Samoa
Full time: 37-0 (NZ win)
Half time: 16-0
New Zealand goal scorers: Kane Russell x3, Nick Wilson x7, Leo Mitai-Wells x2, James Coughlan x5, Hugo Inglis x4, Nic Woods, Simon Child x3, James Coughlan, Nick Haig, Stephen Jenness x6, Ryan Archibald, George Muir, Steve Edwards x2.