Punjab Gold Cup: Kiwis upset Germany, finish 3rd

Chandigarh: New Zealand striker Joel Baker struck in the last minute of the match to help his team shock world champions Germany 3-2 in the play-off and finish third in the first leg of the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament in Chandigarh on Monday.

Both the teams were locked 2-2 till the dying minutes of the match but Baker scored the winner to carve out a memorable win for his team.

The Kiwis, ranked as low as seven, had not won even a single match at the league stage and could not have asked for a better result.

They played attacking game and kept pressure on the German defence.

However it was Germany, who tested their young blood in the tournament, drew the first blood scoring from a penalty corner that came their way in the 17th minute, with Mortiz Furste giving them the lead.

The Black Sticks found the equaliser in the 26th minute when Andren Haywards scored from a penalty corner, second one which his team had earned.

In the final minute of the first half, the Kiwis squandered an opportunity to take laed, wasting a penalty corner.

In the 37th minute, German midfielder Florian Woesch who led a solo attack missed a chance to score when he failed to beat Kiwi goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex.

The Black Sticks, who had drew two matches against Germany earlier, earned their fourth penalty corner which was converted into penalty stroke by umpire Javed Shaikh after a foul by German defender Oscar Deecke.

Lloyd Stephenson capitalised on the chance and took the Kiwis 2-1 up scoring in the 50th minute.

In the very next minute, in a similar fashion, a German penalty corner was converted into penalty stroke by Dutch umpire Michiel Bruning for rough tackle in the striking circle.

This time, Oscar Deecke scored for Germany and made the scoreline 2-2 in the 51st minute.

Barely after a couple of minutes, Kiwi striker Simon Child got an opportunity to make it 3-2 when he led a solo attack, but hit wide.

In the last minute of the match, Baker beat three German defenders and goalkeeper Weinhold Max to give his team a 3-2 win.