London 2012 Olympics: Team GB men's hockey defeat New Zealand in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

Great Britain kept their hopes of winning the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup alive with a much improved performance against the tournament’s top side, New Zealand.

First half goals from Ashley Jackson and Matt Daly secured the 2-1 victory over the Black Sticks, who had been unbeaten in their first three games. Kiwi penalty-corner specialist Andrew Hayward pulled a goal back in the second half, but it wasn't enough as Great Britain’s defence stood strong.

Head coach Jason Lee earlier this week warned that his side would not stand a chance of winning an Olympics medal if they continued their poor form as they succumbed to a 3-2 loss to Argentina.

But on Wednesday he was delighted with his side’s performance and said: “It was a much improved performance following the Argentina game where I had been very disappointed. I thought the players showed a lot of spirit and we played some good tactics to win the game.”

The final few minutes saw exciting end-to-end play and several good attacks from Great Britain, Jonty Clarke and Jackson in the thick of it. Despite several balls going straight across the goal there were no Great Britain players in range to finish and the score remained 2-1.

Lee added: “I thought Matt Day played very well considering this is only his third game back from a long term injury. He scored a very good individual goal and it is encouraging to see him getting into the right positions.”