Five-four women's split decided

REACHING OUT: Matt Bailie (left) of Lytton Old Boys A reaches past James Torrie of YMP A in an attempt to win the ball in a Gisborne men’s hockey game on the LJ Hooker Turf at Harry Barker Reserve. YMP won the match 10-3. Pictures by Paul Rickard

GISBORNE women’s hockey splits into top-five and bottom-four divisions from this weekend.

YMP A, GMC Kowhai, GMC Green, Ben Holden Fencing Ngatapa and Paikea filled the first to fifth places on the table.

The bottom four teams are Emerre and Hathaway Gisborne Girls’ High School, YMP B, GMC Gold and Te Aowera.

Kowhai snapped up second spot on the table with a 3-0 win against Ngatapa at the weekend.

“It feels good to have come second, because we are still only a new team,” Kowhai captain Krissy Hohepa said.

“We played as a team against Ngatapa and came away with the result.”

GMC Green cemented third place with a 15-0 victory over Emerre and Hathaway GMC Gold.

Te Aowera fought hard to take a point in their 1-1 draw with YMP B.

“It was a nice comeback at the death for TA and great to see them finally get some reward for their efforts,” hockey commentator Tony Scragg said.

In the men’s game of the round on Saturday, YMP A again stamped their class on the competition with a resounding 10-3 victory over LOB A.

“They were tied at 2-2 midway through the first half,” Scragg said.

“But then it became 5-2 to YMP and after that the floodgates opened.”

Features of the round included big goal tallies for several players. James Torrie scored seven goals for YMP A and Chris Fox scored seven for THC.

“Both guys showed why they are among the top five goalscorers in the men’s competition,” Scragg said.

Anita Howard of GMC Green also had a good day, scoring five against GMC Gold.