TOA
DALEFIELD
A slow start ultimately proved costly for Farriers Dalefield in a 4–3 loss to Toa in Saturday’s opening round of the Wellington Women’s Premier Championship.
The defending champions dominated the early stages but went two goals down, with Toa making the most of their only forays into the Dalefield circle, scoring two goals.
“We had opportunities to take the lead, but they got two counterattack goals, and then we were 2–0 down, and we were chasing, and then you leave more space open at the back, and it just becomes difficult to win from there,” Dalefield coach Michael Sacke said.
Dalefield fought back to equalise at 2–2 and then at 3–3 going into the final quarter, but a fourth Toa goal with about 10 minutes to play sealed the victory.
“We had enough opportunities to take the game,” said Sacke, who was happy with the character shown by the new-look side, which is missing several players from last year’s champion team.
“They could’ve dropped their heads at 2–0 down, but they didn’t, and they came back and fought the whole way, so I was very happy.
“It was a tough game, and it wasn’t the start we wanted, obviously, but there’s a lot to work on. There are some new players and some young players, and they’ll get better as the season goes on.”
Charlotte Whyte, Ella Kirkup, and Felicity Reidy [from a penalty corner] scored Dalefield’s goals.
