The Australian men's team has scored its second win of the Oceania Cup on the Sunshine Coast with a 2-1 over the Kiwis.
The first half got underway with probing attack from New Zealand, their best chance for a score coming from a deflection in front of the goals just a few minutes in which went wide.
The Australian's then took possession and got their own opportunity to score after a good build up from Jamie Dwyer and Travis Brooks found Liam de Young, who was unable to find the back of the net.
The first goal of the night came in the 21st minute, Aaron Hopkins scoring from the only penalty corner of the game to put the Australians in front and take them into the break 1-0 up.
The Kiwis were quick to equalize early in the second half when Bryce Collins' shot on goal caught the foot of Australian defender Aaron Hopkins to deflect past the keeper.
The next 30 minutes saw plenty of attack from the New Zealanders but to no avail, the Australian's seizing their best chance to score with just four minutes left on the clock when Travis Brooks managed to get the ball past the Kiwi keeper to put the Kookaburras in front and give them their second win of the Cup.
Kookaburras coach Barry Dancer was relieved to come away with a win. "I thought we were certainly challenged tonight. We played below our potential and didn't meet the challenge as we'll have to on Sunday."
"I was pleased that we were able to dig deep in the second half to score and held reasonable composure to maintain the lead in the last four minutes."
The Kookaburras will play New Zealand again on Sunday in the Oceania Cup final, the winner securing a spot at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Earlier the New Zealand women defeated Fiji 14-1 and the Hockeyroos had a strong win over Papua New Guinea 17-0.
Australia 2 New Zealand 1 (Halftime 1-0)
Australia - Aaron Hopkins 23m PC; Travis Brooks 66m FG
New Zealand - Bryce Collins 37m FG
Source: Hockey Australia
