Felicity Reidy scored twice against Karori. PHOTO/FILE
HOCKEY
CHRIS COGDALE
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MEN
Dalefield 5
Tawa Titans 0
Farriers Dalefield player-coach Benedict van Woerkom was happy to take the four points for a bonus-point win over Tawa Titans but was disappointed with some aspects of his team’s performance.
Dalefield went into the game at Clareville without key players, Dane Lett [away with the Black Sticks] and defender Jayan Parbhu [injury], but were still too good for Tawa, who have only stepped up to the top division this season.
Goals were scored by Alex Clark and Zac Hardie in the first quarter, followed by Rowan Yeo in the second period. Marcus Ambrose and Jordan Cohen added second-half goals.
Van Woerkom said they started off playing some good hockey.
“We were on top from the start, we were moving the ball quite well, and we were actually playing some good hockey and if it wasn’t a for a lack of execution in the circle it could have been five or six at halftime, because we were doing the right things and making the right decisions,” he said.
“In the second half we went away from some of those things we were doing well, and we still created a few opportunities but not quite as clean, there were shots from bad angles, guys carrying when they should have passed, and we tried to do too much and went away from that simple unselfish brand of hockey.”
The win has lifted Dalefield to the top of the Wellington Men’s Premier points table on goal difference from Hutt United.
WOMEN
Dalefield 6
Karori 0
Farriers Dalefield were in control from the first whistle at Clareville, gaining a valuable bonus point against the winless Karori.
Sinead Namana, Felicity Reidy [2], player-coach Katherine van Woerkom [2], and Reese Robertson scored, but it wasn’t the scoreline, it was the manner of victory that most pleased van Woerkom.
“The style of hockey we were playing was really nice. The girls were linking together well and we’re trying to improve on different things each week.”
“The girls have mentioned previously that the intensity we start with in the games sometimes isn’t there, so one of goals was let’s go at them early and show them what we’ve got, and we did that, and the girls were breathing heavily after five minutes and against the lesser teams that sometimes isn’t so.
“We were in their circle in the first minute and although they didn’t pay off, the intensity in the game was there a lot more.”
Dalefield are now fourth in the Wellington Women’s Premier Championship, and with three points to come from next weekend’s bye they could move into the top three.
Both Dalefield teams now have three weeks until their next games, with their scheduled byes next weekend, followed by the Queen’s Birthday Weekend break.
