Black Sticks take last two in series

The Black Sticks women beat Malaysia 2-1 yesterday, in the fifth and final game of their series, in Stratford.

New Zealand dominated the first half and Samantha Harrison scored a double in her 100th international.

The Kiwis continued to create chances in the second half but were not able to trouble the scorers again. Malaysia lit up the board 10 minutes from fulltime.

Black Sticks assistant coach Sean Dancer said it was pleasing to close the series positively.

"We are happy to finish with a win, but needed to score a few more goals from the amount of opportunities we created.

"Malaysia defended well in the second half and we needed to execute better in a congested attacking third.

"Overall, this series has been a great learning experience and development opportunity for our group."

New Zealand concluded the five test series with four wins and one narrow loss.

The Black Sticks romped to a 5-2 win in game four in Stratford on Saturday.

New Zealand unearthed some fine attacking play, racing 3-0 ahead inside the first 20 minutes.

It was a welcome performance after the world’s fifth-ranked side lost the third test 1-0 to an opponent ranked 21st in the world.

Phoebe Steele scored from a penalty corner and Kirsten Pearce doubled the advantage in the first quarter.

Erin Goad found the net in the second quarter before Malaysia scored just after the main break. Sam Harrison and Michaela Curtis made the result safe.

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