It was a hot baptism on a pouring wet evening at Lloyd Elsmore Park for Whanganui hockey export Martin Atkinson, as he made his test debut in the 4-2 loss to Australia on Thursday night.
New Zealand scored the first goal and then also took a 2-1 lead before the
world No1 Australians pulled away in the third and fourth quarters, scoring after getting the ball into the goal mouth and making repeated shots until they hit the back wood.
Coach Colin Batch had brought in eight new players with several squad regulars from the Rio Olympics either retiring, resting or playing in Europe.
Atkinson was one of them and was looking for opportunities, with the commentators mentioning at one point that his team needed to work him into open spaces to show his abilities.
It was two other newcomers - Canterbury's Dominic Newman and Auckland's Kim Kingstone - who combined for a stunning goal taken at speed off a reverse stick pass to give New Zealand back the lead at 2-1.
