Masters braced for a torrid night

SWING LOW: George Searle of Lytton Old Boys A hits the ball into the circle under pressure from YMP A players Kieran Barker (left) and Alex Hyland. Picture by Paul Rickard

LYTTON Old Boys Masters have braced themselves for an all-out assault by the rampant YMP A men’s hockey side when they meet in the 7.30pm match on the LJ Hooker turf at Harry Barker Reserve tonight.

YMP come off a big win against LOB A last weekend so the Masters expect to be in the gun again.

“We thought conceding 20 goals against THC last weekend was tough, so we want to try to keep the scoreline lower tonight,” commentator and Masters player Tony Scragg said.

In the other match tonight, at 6pm, LOB A should bounce back strongly against YMP B.

“LOB A will be hurting from that second-half blitz by YMP A last weekend and I have no doubt the boys will want to regroup and get their season back on track,” Scragg said.

The third match of the men’s 10th round is at 6pm tomorrow and has THC and Gisborne Boys’ High School on the turf together.

“THC showed last week they can take teams apart and Boys’ High will need to be wary of their ability to do that,” Scragg said.

The top-five/bottom-four women’s competition begins at 7.3pm tomorrow night with GMC Gold up against Te Aowera.

Gold beat them in the first round of the women’s competition.

“But Te Aowera proved last weekend they can go the distance with that last-minute goal against YMP B, so I am picking an even contest,” Scragg said.

The other three women’s matches on Saturday start with a top clash at 1pm between GMC Kowhai and GMC Green.

“That is easily the game of the round across both men’s and women’s divisions,” Scragg said.

“The Green Machine should be too strong as they vie for a top-two finish in the top-five competition.”

Gisborne Girls’ High School play YMP B at 2.45pm.

“The students should be too strong there and I expect they will show how dominant they will be in the bottom-four competition,” Scragg said.

The round finishes at 4.30pm when unbeaten YMP A meet Ben Holden Fencing Ngatapa.

“That will be a tough game for Ngatapa against the competition’s best,” said Scragg, who coaches Ngatapa.

“It will be a real test for the Ngatapa defence and hopefully that will work well for us in the games to come.

“I would expect YMP to win but Ngatapa will try to contain the scoreline.”