Dane Lett of Dalefield. PHOTO/JAMES CRAWLEY
HOCKEY
JAKE BELESKI
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Both Dalefield premier hockey teams kicked off a busy weekend with dominant wins on Saturday.
The women’s team beat Karori 3-1, while the men were too strong for Victoria University, winning 4-0.
Both teams were also set to play matches on Sunday, with the women taking on Toa and the men tackling Harbour City.
Women’s coach Michael O’Connor said the win over Victoria University was pleasing.
“Watching the game I felt pretty comfortable with how we were going throughout the match.
“It was a game where we did really well a lot of the time but let ourselves down with a few bits and pieces.”
Dalefield scored their opening goal in the second quarter and built up a 3-0 lead before conceding a goal in the final minute of the match.
Monique Edwards [2] and Abby Crawley were the goal-scorers for Dalefield, while Petra Hall was player of the match.
In the absence of key players Kristy and Jenna Anderson, the younger players were able to step up and perform.
“The young girls played really well,” O’Connor said.
“We talked about keeping things basic because we’d had those three weeks off and just building into the game and we did that really well.”
O’Connor said the Anderson sisters would be back on deck for Sunday’s match.
The win means Dalefield maintain their unbeaten start to the season, with eight wins and a draw from their nine matches to date.
They are in a tight battle with Hutt United at the top of the table, but have a game in hand.
O’Connor said there was still plenty of work to be done before the play-offs arrive.
“We’ve just got little niggly things we need to work on.
“By the time we get to those finals, we want them out of the way.”
Meanwhile, tThe Dalefield men’s team are also in a tight battle with Hutt United in their division, but made an emphatic statement against third-placed Victoria University on Saturday.
The 4-0 win was impressive considering they have just come back from a three-week break, but they also knew they were in for another tough battle in Sunday night’s match against Harbour City.
Harbour City are the only team to beat Dalefield so far this season, which was a 4-3 result last month.
The rematch wasn’t supposed to be played until mid-July, but the deferment gave Dalefield an early chance to get their revenge.
