New Zealand surge to 4-1 win over Japan to keep semi-final hopes alive 

New Zealand kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Rabobank Hockey World Cup courtesy of a 4-1 triumph over Asian Champions Japan in the GreenFields Stadium. 

Anita Punt netted twice in the contest as the Black Sticks claimed their second win of the tournament and moved onto six points in Pool A, three points behind frontrunners the Netherlands and Australia, who play each other in this evening's showpiece match in the Kyocera Stadium.  A win for either the host nation or the Hockeyroos would keep New Zealand very much in the running, while a draw would end New Zealand hopes of reaching the semis. 

New Zealand, who currently sit fourth in Pool A, face Australia in their final pool match and know that only a victory will do if they are to have any chance of a top two finish and a subsequent shot at the medals. A draw between the Hockeyroos and the host nation would end New Zealand's interest in the medal matches. 

The Black Sticks won a trio of penalty corners inside the opening minutes of the match, failing to make the most of their first two chances but made no mistake with their third attempt. A slick routine saw Punt send a perfectly weighted pass onto the stick of Sophie Cocks, who guided her 4th minute deflection into the bottom right corner of Miyuki Nakagawa's goal.  

The early setback seemed to inspire rather than deflate the Asian champions, who produced a number of telling attacks that could easily have resulted in an equaliser. Arguably the best of them fell to Yuri Nagai, who glanced her effort wide of the left post with only Black Sticks keeper Sally Rutherford to beat. 

Despite Rutherford being called into action to deny a rasping forehand drive from Shoko Kanefuji, it was the team from Oceania who controlled the latter stages of the half and applied huge amounts of pressure on the Japanese scoring circle but could not add increase the lead ahead of the break. 

New Zealand turned their dominance into goals early in the second half, with Punt sending a penalty corner drag-flick into the top left corner in the 38th minute before Katie Glynn took the score to 3-0 a minute later with a neat finish from close range. 

The Black Sticks were threatening to run riot and almost adding a fourth when another Anita Punt drag-flick was tipped over the crossbar. 

Hopes of a Japanese comeback were raised in the 51st minute thanks to a lovely finish from Hazuki Nagai, who showed a cool head to slip the ball past the onrushing Rutherford and into the goal. It was a fight-back that never genuinely threatened to materialise, with New Zealand dominating the final stages of the game before Punt claimed her second of the game with cracking backhand finish two minutes from time. 

"It was really hard to get through them at the start but we had to be patient and we got the goals in the end", said Black Sticks' two goal hero Anita Punt. "It was a good team performance but obviously we have still got a lot to do and will keep working towards what we are here for."