Wanganui's representative hockey teams made a belated entry to the central region competition on Sunday - and found the young legs of the central under-21 teams hard to keep up with.
"They were very fast, fit and mobile," said Wanganui men's manager Ian Glenny of the opposition, which included three up-and-coming local players in Kane Watkin, Martin Atkinson and Josh Rainey.
The under-21 were 2-0 up after five minutes at the Gonville hockey turf before Wanganui started to get some structure into their game. They held out until halftime, but conceded three more goals in the second period.
For Glenny, the highlight was when keeper Craig Thompson brilliantly saved a stroke - "that was a huge effort".
He also had praise for Collegiate students Cameron Burgess and Monty Blackwood who stepped up well to the higher level.