A big performance from the Black Sticks put the Netherlands under pressure and held them to a 1-1 draw in the final pool match of this Rabobank Hockey World Cup. The result means that the Netherlands will be playing England in the Kyocera Stadium on Friday night, while New Zealand will be playing Spain for 7/8 place. For the Netherlands, this means they are unbeaten in their pool and finish one point ahead of Argentina. New Zealand, who came into the tournament with high expectations of a top six finish will be disappointed that they have failed to reach that target.

The Black Sticks threw all they had at this game and certainly put the Netherlands under as much pressure as the men in orange have faced so far, but New Zealand's undoing happened early on in the match. It was Valentin Verga (8') who opened the scoring with a well-taken reverse stick shot that punished some very slack Black Sticks defending. The Dutch marksman was alone in front of the circle when he received the ball, turned and fired home. However, having conceded early and thus consigned themselves to a chasing game, the Black Sticks then survived a series of Netherlands attacks on goal, including two penalty corners. Devon Manchester in the Black Sticks goal was particularly impressive as he stood up to the Dutch barrage. The Dutch coach, Paul van Ass, suggested that the tight New Zealand defence had "ruined the game", but coach Colin Batch replied that this was the best way to play against the Dutch and he expected any opposition to take that approach.

Midway through the first half, Seve van Ass thought he had breached the Black Sticks defensive line, when he received a cross from Robbert Kemperman, but some sharp-eyed umpiring from South African Gary Simmonds spotted a foot in the circle and the goal was disallowed.

The Netherlands continued to play their flowing style of hockey and in the middle of the pitch, Kemperman was imperious. His aerial balls to the deep corners of the pitch put the New Zealand defence under pressure, but time and again Dean Couzins and his men stuck to their task and cleared the ball.

In the second half, New Zealand stepped up the pitch and began to create their own opportunities. Alex Shaw came close in the 46th minute as he missed a crossed ball by centimetres. Jaap Stockmann in the Netherlands goal was called on to make two world-class saves, but even he couldn't stop the rocket of a shot that Simon Child crashed past him in the 63rd minute. The goal was very like that scored by Verga against the Black Sticks. Child received the ball, unmarked in the circle and his speed of turn and shot left the Dutch defence stunned.

The last seven minutes saw both teams continuing to play end-to-end hockey. The Netherlands side had more continuity and flow but, in truth, even if it stopped a goal-scoring spectacle, the Black Sticks tactics did temporarily slow the Netherland's march to the medals. The battling Black Sticks even had a chance to steal the match with a penalty corner from Andy Hayward, but Stockmann was equal to the challenge.

Speaking after the game, Colin Batch said: "We have had some difficult games against Argentina and Germany and we looked forward to playing here in front of the crowd. We grew in this match and had a good second half. We wanted to do better with our circle defence than in previous matches and I think we achieved that. We are pleased to have drawn the match and perhaps we could have won it."

The Black Sticks captain, Dean Couzins added: "The tournament format has been good as the break gives us a chance to recover. We have pride in our fitness, but now we need to look at holding possession so we can use our energy to chase games and create scoring opportunities rather than using our energy to chase the ball."

"Holland is really a quality team. They challenge you," continued Couzins, who has spent some time playing in the Netherlands. "We stuck to our defensive structure well, they have guys who can punish you inside the circle and we dealt with them. We have grown in the past 12 months and so we are really pleased. We played well in Holland, against Holland in front of 15,000 people. Seventh place for us is important. We are going to be determined to finish this off."

The Netherlands coach Paul van Ass said: "The way we played was not satisfying. It was not a good way to play. We were prepared for a game like this, but we could not execute our game. It does not matter in terms of goals, but it does destroy some of our good work. We wanted to win the game outright."