Big wins and an upset

Sunshine and shadows, not rain: Kayla Hornblow, of Waituhi, gets her pass away despite the attentions of Paikea players Jo Cumming (left) and Joanne McLean. Paikea won the match 4-0 on a day when the sunshine contrasted with recent wetter playing conditions. Picture by Paul Rickard

HOCKEY

BIG wins to YMP and GMC Green, and a hard-fought victory to Ngatapa in the women’s competition, and a Lytton Old Boys victory over YMP (1) in the men’s ranks were highlights of senior hockey at the weekend.

Ngatapa got the weekend off to an entertaining start on Friday night when they defeated the in-form Gisborne Girls’ High School side 1-0.

“That was Ngatapa’s first win of the season, and against a really good Girls’ High side . . . they thoroughly deserved it,” hockey commentator Tony Scragg said.

“Ngatapa scored halfway through the first quarter. Girls’ High piled on the pressure in the final quarter but Ngatapa managed to maintain their defensive line and keep them out.”

LOB New Zealand Fruits and YMP (1) put on a thriller in the men’s games to end the weekend’s round on the turf at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday night.

LOB won it 3-2.

“That was a really good result for the Fruits to finish the round on,” Scragg said.

“It just shows that these YMP squads can be beaten,” Scragg said.

“It sets us up for an interesting second round of men’s games starting this weekend.”

Paikea brought Waituhi back to earth, beating them 4-0 on Saturday afternoon.

“Paikea jumped out to a 3-0 lead and looked like they were going to pile on more goals,” Scragg said.

“But credit to the Waituhi defence . . . they let only one more goal past them in the second half.

“The win keeps Paikea firmly in second place and should secure them a top-four finish.”

GMC Green overpowered clubmates GMC Kowhai 10-0.

“That was expected,” Scragg said.

“For the Green Machine it was a good outing to settle themselves before they take on the in-form Paikea outfit this weekend.”

The high-flying YMP women did the same thing to GMC Gold, winning 10-0.

“YMP are a very hard team to contain at the moment,” Scragg said.

“But credit to Gold . . . they had a few scoring opportunities in the YMP circle, but they were unable to capitalise.”

In the men’s competition, YMP (2) produced a six-pack of goals in their 6-1 victory over LOB Masters.

“It was the Tamanay Tuhou show,” Scragg said.

“In his first game in 2020, he scored four goals and picked up right where he left off last season.”

Ngatapa 1 (Lulu Vermeulen) Amber Dental Gisborne Girls’ High School 0; Paikea 4 (Jessie Duncan 2, Jo Cumming, Lisa Gill) Waituhi 0; GMC Green 10 (Caroline Maclaurin 4, Megan Allen 2, Olivia Abernethy, Alesha Batisaresare, Amy England, Jade Stafford) GMC Kowhai 0; YMP 10 (Courtney Onekawa 5, Brooklyn Edwards, Maia Rickard, Mikaylah Tamati, Rhearne Tarawa, Morgan Tuhou) GMC Gold 0.

YMP (2) 6 (Tamanay Tuhou 4, Heath Tupara, Gareth Knox) LOB Masters 1 (Liam Melville); LOB NZ Fruits 3 (Wade Manson, Terry Thomas, Derek Watson) YMP (1) 2 (Jarrod Carter 2).