Hockey men go down to Australia

The New Zealand men’s hockey team were on the losing end of a tough contest against Australia in their Olympic Games opener today.

Australia, ranked No 1 in the world, struck early when Chris Ciriello scored from a penalty corner. Matt Gohdes stretched the Australian lead to 2-0 after 23 minutes and it seemed as if the New Zealand men's hockey team might be in for a long day.

However, Hugo Inglis struck back early in the second spell and the New Zealanders pressed hard for the rest of the match.

With just five minutes left, the Kiwis looked to have equalised with Hayden Phillips sending a screamer towards goal for Inglis to deflect in.

However, following a video referral from Australia the goal was overturned with the initial strike from Phillips ruled dangerous.

It was a demanding opening to the Olympic Games for New Zealand – Australia have been medallists at the last six Olympic Games. However, the hockey men showed enough to suggest they might well press for a spot in the quarter-finals.