Black Sticks men thumped by the Dutch

| Other Sports News | Friday August 3 2012 23:31

The New Zealand men's hockey team's dreams of winning a medal at the London Olympics are all but over.

The Black Sticks have fallen to their second loss of the tournament, going down 5-1 to the Netherlands in their third group game.Captain Dean Couzins says it’s the end of their Olympic dream, which is hard to take.

"You work your guts out and you really believe that you can get a medal, but there's only three of them unfortunately. So while your desire's there and your want's there to do it, you've got to be good enough and today we weren't."

Black Sticks midfielder Shea McAleese says the Dutch took their chances, while they squandered theirs.

"I reckon maybe chances were probably pretty even, but they were just a bit more clinical in front of goal, and we just didn't have that finishing touch."

The Black Sticks can still make the medal round if they beat Belgium and Germany in their remaining group matches and other results go their way.

Photo: Photosport

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Hockey | olympics | Black Sticks |