The world champions Australia punished the Black Sticks Men for the second night in a row, winning 5-1 in Cairns tonight.
Overall, we put on a better performance tonight. It was a very competitive first half, but the Aussies were relentless in the second half and mentally and physically we struggled to keep up with their pace, says Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod.
In a repeat of last nights game, Australian Rob Hammond opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The Black Sticks replied eleven minutes later, after a good pass from Phil Burrows found Stephen Jenness who hit it to the back of the net.
Kookaburra Kieran Govers made it 2-1 at half time, and then got his second goal of the night in the 47th minute. The Australian momentum continued with Jason Wilson and Glenn Simpson taking the score to 5-1 by the 66th minute.
Despite the Black Sticks working hard in the last ten minutes, the game and a series win were out of reach for the seventh-ranked Kiwis. Australia won last nights first test 6-1.
The Black Sticks play their third and final test against Australia this Monday at 8pm (NZT). For live score updates go to www.twitter.com/blacksticks.
Hawkes Bay is the Principal Partner of the Black Sticks Men and Women.
RESULT
Australia 5 (R Hammond, K Govers x2, J Wilson, G Simpson) New Zealand 1 (Steve Jenness) HT: 2-1
