One of the tournament’s biggest upsets looked on the cards when Sarah Gregorius broke in between Casey Stoney and Rachel Unitt to steer Amber Hearn’s cross past Karen Bardsley for an 18th-minute lead.
But a towering header from Jill Scott in the 63rd minute gave England parity and with nine minutes to go, Alex Scott picked out Jess Clarke to rifle in the goal that sent New Zealand home and left England on the brink of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Group B leaders Japan comfortably booked their passage to the next round with a 4-0 romp over Mexico, who New Zealand meet on Wednesday (NZT).
New Zealand were just shaded in the possession stakes but had chances to put the game out of England’s reach before their second-half fight back.
The impressive Hearn set Gregorius free as the half closed only for the goalscorer to be caught up by Unitt with the goal in sight.
Hearn put a header just over the bar to begin the second half while Kiwi captain Rebecca Smith had a strong claim for a penalty waved away after appearing to be manhandled in the box on a set piece.
The New Zealand defence was kept busy throughout with Abby Erceg the standout performer in the back four and Betsy Hassett and Katie Hoyle industrious at either ends of a midfield diamond.
Scott’s equaliser was a cue for the game to open up and Rosie White, brought on in an attacking tactical change from coach John Herdman, couldn’t quite make clean contact on Ali Riley’s cross with what was her first touch of the game.
With American-based striker Kelly Smith kept largely in check, the main English threat came from Fara Williams and Ellen White until the move to push holding midfielder Jill Scott higher up the pitch paid rich dividends.
Football Ferns coach John Herdman was in reflective mood after the match and keen to refocus on a final group match.
“It was a bit of a nailbiter,” he said.
“It was a really solid performance from the team and I’m really proud of them. We led one of the powerhouses of football for an hour and it looked like we might have held on or snuck another one at the end there.”
“The tournament’s not over for us. We’ve got a massive game coming up against Mexico and that’s about pride and about New Zealand pushing for its first win at a World Cup so it’s back to business in the next couple of days.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011
Dresden, Germany
Friday July 1
New Zealand 1 (Sarah GREGORIUS 18’)
England 2 (Jill SCOTT 63′, Jessica CLARKE 81′)
Halftime: 1-0
New Zealand: 1-Jenny BINDON (gk), 2-Ria PERCIVAL (13-Rosie WHITE 71’), 3-Anna GREEN, 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH (c), 7-Ali RILEY, 9-Amber HEARN, 10-Sarah GREGORIUS, 12-Betsy HASSETT, 18-Katie BOWEN (8-Hayley MOORWOOD 46’).
Substitutes not used: 11-Kirsty YALLOP, 14-Sarah McLAUGHLIN, 15-Emma KETE, 16-Annalie LONGO, 17-Hannah WILKINSON, 19-Kristy HILL, 20-Aroon CLANSEY (gk), 21-Erin NAYLOR (gk).
Coach: John HERDMAN
England: 1-Karen BARDSLEY, 2-Alex SCOTT, 3-Rachel UNITT, 4-Jill SCOTT, 5-Faye WHITE (c / 15-Sophie BRADLEY 86’), 6-Casey STONEY, 8-Fara WILLIAMS, 9-Ellen WHITE, 10-Kelly SMITH, 11-Rachel YANKEY (7-Jessica CLARKE 65’), 14-Eniola ALUKO (12-Karen CARNEY 46’).
Substitutes not used: 13-Rachel BROWN, 16-Stephanie HOUGHTON, 17-Laura BASSETT, 18-Anita ASANTE, 19-Dunia SUSI, 20-Claire RAFFERTY, 21-Siobhan CHAMBERLAIN.
Coach: Hope POWELL
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz