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Phil Burrows in action for Black Sticks - Source: Photosport -
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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," says Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod. "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,"
In a repeat of last night's 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 10 minutes, the game and a series win were out of reach for the seventh-ranked Kiwis. Australia won last night's first test 6-1.