The Red Panthers' captain Jill Boon hit a late winner as the team ranked 13th in the world beat the Black Sticks, who occupy sixth place in the world rankings, 1-0.

Belgium were impressive performers in the opening quarter of the match, causing numerous problems in what was the first-ever meeting between the two sides on New Zealand soil.

New Zealand goalkeeper Sally Rutherford was forced into action more times than she would have liked, although even she was helpless when Alexia t'Serstevens rattled the inside of the post with a speculative backhand effort at the end of the first period.

Belgium, who had travelled to Auckland from Córdoba following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat against Argentina, were arguably the better side in the second quarter, although New Zealand had the better scoring opportunities.

Olivia Merry slapped a penalty corner effort wide of the target, while Amy Robinson and Sam Charlton also had very good chances but failed to threaten the goal of the excellent Aisling D’Hooghe.

D’Hooghe was the busier of the two goalkeepers in a third quarter dominated by the hosts, who won five penalty corners in the first seven minutes after the break but failed to make the most of their opportunities thanks in no small part to some quality defending from Belgium.

Kirsten Pearce smashed a vicious backhand strike towards goal in the latter stages of the quarter, but the effort was comfortably pushed away by D’Hooghe’s left glove to keep the score at 0-0 going into the final quarter, raising the prospect of a shoot-out to settle the contest.

The final quarter could have gone either way, with Louise Versavel seeing a goal-bound effort inadvertently deflected wide by the stick of team-mate Alix Gerniers before a rapid New Zealand counter-attack was blazed over the Belgium crossbar by Kelsey Smith.

The final five minutes were packed full of drama, especially for Belgium striker Boon, who had a glorious chance to settle to contest when a foul on Versavel resulted in a penalty stroke, only for her weak shot to be saved with ease by New Zealand’s Grace O’Hanlon.

Boon more than made up for her missed penalty stroke, however, when she netted a sensational winner with less than two minutes of the contest remaining, showing stunning reflexes to volley Versavel’s thunderous pass into the roof of the net to give her team victory.

"I think it was really a great effort, we knew it was going to be a tough match," Gerniers, the player of the match, said. 

"I think we showed a lot of character during the whole game. 

"The work paid off and to score in the last minute, it’s great."

Today’s action also saw Belgium’s men involved in a thrilling 4-4 draw against New Zealand before claiming the bonus point by winning the shoot-out.

The game exploded into life in the second quarter with New Zealand taking the lead through Hugo Inglis before goals from Cédric Charlier and Maxime Plennevaux gave world champions Belgium a 2-1 advantage going into half-time.

New Zealand pulled themselves level after the break thanks to Aidan Sarikaya’s stunning backhand strike into the roof of the net before a rare goal from defender Arthur Van Doren restored Belgium’s lead at the end of third quarter.

A wonderful assist from Felix Denayer, passing behind his body, allowed Charlier to fire into the top corner of the New Zealand goal to give Belgium a 4-2 lead in the fourth quarter. 

Remarkably, New Zealand hit back with two goals to force a shootout as a Nic Woods penalty corner and a high-quality open play strike from Stephen Jenness, capitalising on Van Doren’s defensive error, ensured that the Black Sticks would take at least a point against the Olympic silver medallists.

Belgium were flawless in the shoot-out, scoring all four of their attempts to take the bonus point.

Inglis saw his early attempt saved, with Belgium’s bonus point being guaranteed when Dylan Thomas was adjudged to have used the back of his stick when scoring, resulting in his effort being ruled out by the video umpire.

The FIH Pro League is due to continue tomorrow with Australia’s men and women playing host to The Netherlands in Melbourne, and Argentina’s women taking on visitors the United States in Córdoba.