Kayleigh-Rose Rooderkirk in action for Dalefield. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
HOCKEY
JAKE BELESKI
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Dalefield premier women continued their unbeaten streak in Wellington premier hockey on Saturday, but the men suffered their first hiccup of the season.
The women managed to escape with a 4-3 win over Harbour City, but coach Michael O’Connor said it so easily could have been a different result.
“There was a period at the end where it felt like we were going to lose.
“We built up a lead over the match but we kept letting them back in and we were back to square one.”
Dalefield had led 4-1 at one stage, but they almost let Harbour City storm back to level the match.
O’Connor said it may have been a case of the opposition being slightly better than they were expecting.
“The last few games, and this one, we’ve been working on trying to get better each week.
“Our play has let us down at times, but our intent and determination were always there which is pleasing.”
Goal scorers for Dalefield were Abby Crawley, Katherine van Woerkom, Michael O’Connor and Kristy Anderson.
Crawley was named player of the match.
The Dalefield men’s team also played Harbour City, and even a stirring final quarter fightback was not quite enough to get them over the line.
Trailing 1-3 heading into the last 15 minutes, Dalefield got the score back to 3-3 before conceding a goal with about a minute left to play.
Player-coach Dane Lett said they were their own worst enemy.
“We had a very off day – we weren’t near our standards in any area of the game.
“We still had another few opportunities in the last minute but couldn’t put it away.”
Lett said the final goal they had conceded was “soft”, but it was an accurate reflection of their match as nothing seemed to go as they had planned.
“It’s a hard one to identify because we didn’t do much well at all – there’s plenty to work on for next week.”
The task doesn’t get any easier for either Dalefield team next weekend as they both play Hutt United, who are yet to lose a match in either division.
