New Delhi:
New Zealand substituted their goalkeeper with an extra outfield player to draw 1-1 with Canada and move into the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games men's hockey on Saturday.
The Black Sticks, trailing Canada 1-0 with just four minutes to go, replaced keeper Kyle Pontifex with striker Stephen Jenness and got the result they wanted with Hayden Shaw netting the equaliser in the 68th minute.
The draw left Canada on five points while New Zealand got the seven they needed to move into the last four, where they will take on defending champions Australia on Tuesday.
Canada almost blundered the chance to take a lead when forward Iain Smythe failed to put the ball in from near the goal-mouth but Sukhwinder Singh showed fine reflexes and made up for his team-mate's mistake.
Canada maintained their 1-0 lead, taken in the eighth minute, almost till the end and looked set to emerge as the winners when New Zealand coach Kevin Marr made the move to substitute the keeper.
The ploy paid off as New Zealand forced a penalty corner with just two minutes from the final hooter and Shaw made no mistake in scoring.
Black Sticks forward Hugo Inglis said the decision was risky but worth taking.
"The rule's been there for a while," he said. "It is a pretty fair tactic. We had 11 players in the field and we could go all out in our attack.
"It was a huge risk to take, no doubt. But it worked for us and took us into the semis."
Canadian defender Scott Tupper lauded the Kiwis for the tactical move.
"It was a great tactic," he said. "They got an edge in their attack. We were not really surprised by the move. We knew they would do what they could to go through to the semis.
"It is disappointing because the draw feels like a loss. We were just a few minutes away from the semi-finals but our lead was taken away. We have never been there (in the semis) before, we could have made history."