Rowan Yeo, left, scored a hat-trick in Dalefield’s bonus-point win. PHOTO/FILE
HOCKEY
CHRIS COGDALE
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MEN
Tawa Titans 2
Dalefield 7
Farriers Dalefield are virtually assured of locking in home advantage for the first round of the Wellington Premier Men’s Championship with a bonus point victory over Tawa Titans at the National Hockey Stadium.
Dalefield dominated from the start against their inexperienced opponents and took the lead through Marcus Ambrose from a penalty corner [PC] and Rowan Yeo in the first quarter.
Yeo added a second in the second period and completed his hat-trick in the third quarter, while Ambrose scored a second from a PC, and Zac Hardie added two goals.
Dalefield player-coach Benedict van Woerkom said that despite the dominant scoreline, it was an up-and-down effort by the two-time defending champions.
“Some patches we played really good hockey, and there were some patches when we were poor and our decision-making was quite bad,” he said.
“At times we stuck to our structure and at other times we went a bit random and had players going where they shouldn’t go.”
Van Woerkom said Nathan Whiteman impressed after being out for six weeks with a broken hand, and Myles Houlahan and Hamish Finlayson had solid games.
WOMEN
Karori 0
Dalefield 4
Understrength Farriers Dalefield kept alive their hopes of a top-two finish with a convincing win over Karori at the National Hockey Stadium.
The defending champions took until the second quarter to break down the stern Karori resistance with Emma McLeod and Reese Robertson finding the back of the net.
Former Black Stick Felicity Reidy scored in the third quarter and Brigette Mossman converted a stroke to wrap up a solid performance by the team, who were missing six players away at the national under-18 championships.
Player-coach Katherine van Woerkom was satisfied with the result, despite not picking up a valuable bonus point.
“We had four girls filling in for us and they all fitted in perfectly and didn’t look out of place,” she said.
“We dominated the game and were probably in their 25 for 50 per cent of the game. We moved the ball really well and we didn’t force it out of congestion, and we had players on the outside pushing up in support and overlapping, so it was really good.”
Dalefield need a win over Victoria on Saturday and a Harbour City loss to or draw with Hutt United to finish in the top two, and with the double life for the playoffs.
