The heroics of Tauranga duo Steve Graham and Andy Hayward have helped the Black Sticks earn a 1-1 draw against South Korea in their second match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Stephen Graham pulled off a string of excellent saves in a man-of-the-match display, whilst defender Andy Hayward, celebrating his 100th appearance, put in an encouraging display that saw one of his trademark penalty corner drag flicks win a penalty stroke that was missed by the umpire.

For the Black Sticks, it was a much improved team performance after the disappointing 4-2 defeat to Pakistan in their first match of the tournament.

The Black Sticks worked hard throughout the match to play with relentless commitment and put the Koreans under heavy pressure.

It was a very physical game with both sides not shying away from challenges and it was Korea, defending champions after sharing the 2010 title with India, who created the first chance in the seventh minute with Kang Moon Kyu blazing a penalty corner flick high over the crossbar.

From the Black Sticks' only penalty corner of the match in the 18th minute, Andy Hayward's drag flick hit a defender's foot on the line, but Hayward's chance of celebrating his 100th appearance with his 34th international goal was ruined when the Korean infringement was missed by the umpire.

In the 20th minute, Wellington's Blair Hilton, earning his 50th cap, went closest to breaking the deadlock.

After neat approach work from Arun Panchia and Nick Wilson, Hilton's rasping effort unluckily rebounded off the post and Korea scrambled the ball away.

It was a see-saw match that saw both sides throwing everything at the opposition with Otago's Blair Tarrant particularly prominent, winning several excellent tackles, but no side could find the net in the first half and the teams went into the interval goalless.

In the second half, Taranaki's Ben Collier opened the scoring in the 49th minute. Excellent approach work from Nick Wilson saw him dribble into the circle beating several players along the baseline before sending the ball across the face of the goal to give Collier the simplest of tap-ins.

It was Collier's 11th international goal and they won't come much easier than that.

It was just reward for the hard-working Collier though, who only seconds earlier, had been instrumental in winning a crucial tackle in the Black Sticks circle to prevent Korea from scoring and then sprinted the length of the field to get on the end of Wilson's pass.

Korea pushed hard for the equaliser and won several penalty corners and on three occasions goalkeeper Steve Graham flung himself across his goal to make fine saves. From Korea's fourth penalty corner in the 58th minute, Jang Jong Hyun's flick low into the corner just eluded the despairing dive of Graham to equalise for the Koreans.

In the closing minutes, both sides created half chances but a 1-1 draw was a fair reflection of the balance of the match and leaves the Black Sticks needing to secure a victory over the British in their next match of the tournament on Monday to get into contention for a place in the medal matches on the final day.

At the conclusion of the match, Steve Graham was awarded the man of the match award by the Malaysia media for his excellent display.

In the other matches played tonight, Australia drew 1-1 with India, whilst Great Britain beat Pakistan 3-2 in an entertaining match.