Match No.17: 6th DEC 2018 NEW ZEALAND Vs SPAIN
Hayden Phillips’ field goal with 10 minutes left on the clock to pull one back at 1-2 made it ‘game on’ for New Zealand against Spain.
It provided coach Darren Smith the impetus to bring on kicking back Corey Bennet.
Kane Russel then slammed home the equaliser to fetch his team a valuable point.
Smith, though, believed that his team’s direct approach to move forward with the ball was always going to set up such a moment in the last quarter.
Match No.18: 6th DEC 2018 FRANCE Vs ARGENTINA
Hugo Genestet struck in the 18th minute to put France, the lowest ranked team at the World Cup at No. 20, 1-0 up against Argentina the Olympic champions and ranked No. 2.
The rattled South Americans conceded three more in the quarter while scoring one and were left playing catch-up for the rest of the match.
Genestet’s goal was significant in more ways than one. He missed a penalty stroke in the dying stages of the match against Spain that cost his team two points after a 1-1 draw. Breaking the deadlock against the Argentines, who had already topped pool A, got the French campaign back on track. With the adrenaline flowing and the crowd firmly behind the “underdogs” the South Americans were forced into errors in a disastrous second quarter during which the match was won and lost. The result assured the French a place in the cross-overs. New Zealand finished third while Spain were eliminated.