After India suffered a 1-2 loss at the hands of New Zealand in their second match of the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, team's new chief coach Paul van Ass said that despite being the better side on turf for the second consecutive day, results continued to elude his side.
After a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Korea yesterday, India conceded a late goal to succumb to their first loss and hand New Zealand their second consecutive win in the six-nation tournament at the Azlan Shah Stadium.
Despite having the better share of possession and ball control, India paid the price for some sloppy defending as New Zealand scored through skipper Simon Child (38th minute) and Andy Hayward's (55th) late penalty corner conversion to give Van Ass his first taste of defeat with the Indian team.
"I think we played good match, especially in the third and at the start of the fourth quarter. We were freely pressing them, giving them some hard time with some scoring chances. I think we dominated the better part of the game but unfortunately in the last six minutes, we conceded a corner and that is more with the head (mental part)," the Dutchman told reporters after the match.
"It is unfortunate but there is nothing wrong with the way we played hockey today. The level of play was very good we didn't get the result which we should have got. May be that will come with time.
"From the creative part I think we were more fun to watch but that doesn't count because in the end it is the result which matters," said Van Ass, who took charge of the team barely three weeks ago.
Van Ass said there was nothing new in New Zealand's game and India need to reduce silly errors.
"It is not that they (New Zealand) surprised me by tactics. They did what they always do, played some long balls and they have good penalty corner specialist (Hayward). I feel our mistakes should reduce," he said.
India had three penalty corners today out of which they made use of just one. On two occasions Manpreet Singh was at fault as he failed to stop the ball cleanly.
"It was not by purpose. The ejection was not right and that happens," Van Ass said when asked about the goof ups.
Asked whether he still fancies India's chances of reaching the final here, the India coach said: "It is still far away. I don't know what will happen. Only thing I know is that tomorrow is recovery day and then we play Malaysia."
New Zealand coach Colin Batch expressed happiness on his side's second win on the trot but said they had to dig deep.
"I am pleased with the second win but it was a difficult game. It was a tight game. Both the teams were conservative in their approach from time to time," he said.
