TED Graves lifted Great Britain from the jaws of defeat against New Zealand that saw both teams settle for a 1-1 draw in the 12th Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Hockey Stadium in Taman Daya today.
It was New Zealand’s second match that ended in a draw following last Sunday’s 2-2 score against Australia. The Kiwis had earlier defeated the Malaysians 3-2.
The draw saw New Zealand climbed to second in the table standings on five points – four behind table toppers India. Australia is in third spot (4 points), followed by Great Britain in fourth (4), Japan (3) and the Malaysians at the basement with no points.
The Kiwis left it late in the 48th minute before going 1-0 ahead through a Jonty Elmes field goal, before Graves equalized for GB with four minutes remaining to the end of regulation time.
Great Britain’s assistant coach Jerome Goudie said: “New Zealand is a very good team, just as all the other teams. We probably didn’t play our game the best we could have done today.”
“New Zealand defended well with some very strong counter-attacks but for us not to play well although we should have played better but we are happy with the results.”
“This tournament has been a great experience for the players to comeback from behind to draw the game. So, hopefully we can use that experience to go into the next game, and the game after that and play as well as we can,” added Jerome.
New Zealand coach Aaron Ford, said: “We did not get the three points but I am proud of the players. We are trying to ger better in every match. We created a lot of chances in the second half. Next, we go up against Japan today and it is going to be an exciting match. The Japanese have been playing well.”
Great Britain goalkeeper Calum Douglas receives the Man of the Match award from Johor HA President Datuk Majid Manjit Abdullah.
New Zealand’s Milan Patel (left) tussles for the ball against Great Britain in the SOJC match yesterday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw