Fourth Quarter
England will meet Olympics champion Argentina in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, December 12. With this win, the 1986 finalist maintains its record of never finishing below eighth in the Hockey World Cup.
60' Penalty corner for New Zealand. But George Pinner makes a smart save to keep a cleansheet.
58' Mark Gleghorne takes a knock on his calf on the left side and that has been the story of this match. New Zealand's pragmatic approach to the first quarter has cost it the match and has given England confidence to do away with its attacks in the succeeding quarters.
56' New Zealand desperately tries to look for a goal by stationing itself in the England half, but the English defence handles the threat with ease.
53' The move for an extra outfield has backfired for New Zealand as England becomes the only team in the #HWC2018 to win two penalty corners without a goalkeeper to protect the goal. However, Cory Bennett--the replacement for the goalkeeper, puts himself on the line and takes a heavy knock on the knee to keep the ball out.
51' New Zealand takes out Richard Joyce in the goal and sends in Cory Bennett as the 11th outfield player in search of a goal.
49' SAVE! Liam Sanford misreads a key pass from the right wing, which allows New Zealand a direct hit at the goal. Thanks to George Pinner's positioning, the shot is saved. The England custodian is furious at his defenders.
47' Nick Ross has a shot on England's goal, but he is positioned at a difficult position to score and manages to hit the sideboarding with his hit.
46' England's patience has paid off after probing in the first quarter and then made some right decisions to capitalise on New Zealand's defensive errors.
Third Quarter
44' GOAL ENGLAND! Luke Taylor doubles England's lead with a superb finish into the roof of the net. England goes for the second battery with a backpass to David Condon whose shot is saved by Richard Joyce. Taylor latches on to the loose ball and smashes it into the goalpost.
43' SAVE! George Pinner makes an excellent stop to keep out Blair Tarrant who shoots through a crowded defence towards the right side. Stephen Jenness pounces on the loose ball, but his sliding reverse hit flies safely over the crossbar.
41' That was breathtaking from Liam Sanford! The defender wins the ball on the edge of the circle and evades three New Zealand players, then exchanges passes with David Condon, to get to the other end. However, a raised ball is deemed dangerous by the umpire.
Australia's star man Blake Govers tops the scoring charts after his hat-trick against China
38' Penalty corner for England! Luke Taylor misses the dragflick, but New Zealand concedes a soft corner after the loose ball hits Dane Lett's foot. However, the Kiwis manage to defend the second corner.
35' MISS! Stephen Jenness has the all the time in the world after he is left with space on the edge of the circle. The forward gets into a good position to shoot, but slashes wide off the right top corner.
31' England plays tiki-taka hockey to stretch the Black Sticks' defence and it works. Englands finds pockets of space on the left side, but loses the ball before conjuring up a chance, despite having three attackers inside the area.
HALF-TIME: England 1-0 New Zealand
Second Quarter
30' It has been a tale of two quarters. Both teams have matched each other in terms possessions and missed chances. But the one moment of brilliance from Roper has been been difference between the sides.
28' The game has blown open after that goal from Calnan, as England misses a close chance while New Zealand makes a mess of a penalty corner with some poor trapping on the edge of the circle.
25' GOAL ENGLAND! Phil Roper dribbles past three defenders on the right and draw Richard Joyce towards him. The England skipper then cuts a pass from the baseline to Will Calnan at the far post, who is left with a tap-in into an unguarded net.
22' New Zealand has reverted to a full-press in Q2 and is looking to push England into its own circle.
20' The Black sticks are proving to be a tough nut to crack as Phil Roper is unable to get the ball from Nic Woods' excellent tackle.
18' Stephen Jenness tries to chase a long ball from the deep, but Liam Sanford does well to gather the ball and bring it to England's attacking half.
A record breaking streak of 16 World Cup wins calls for a good break
First Quarter
15' A defensively solid New Zealand finishes the first quarter on top despite having just one circle entry at the other end.
13' England forwards is unable to get any circle entries, so fall back to thread passes through the midfield, but the forwards are unable to get on the end of it.
7' England midfielder recycle possession and tries to use the wings, but the Black Sticks have defended well. Except for the penalty strike and a couple of half chances, England has been unable to pose a threat in the final fourth.
5' Liam Ansell wins England the first penalty corner of the match. Mark Gleghorne goes for the left side with his dragflick which is read by Richard Joyce and New Zealand keeper palms it away to safety.
3' It has been a cagey affair in the opening few minutes, New Zealand's Kane Russell's hits a long ball from the midfield, but he is unable to find a teammate inside the circle.
1' We are underway for the first crossover match of the #HWC2018 .
The players are on the pitch for the national anthems!
Before the hockey extravaganza begins, some football practice
Match Trivia
- Previous encounters at World Cups: 1973: England 1-0 | 1986: England 3-1 | 2006: England 4-3
- Last match between the sides was for the bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games which England won 4-2 in a shootout.
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