Hockey Ngatapa v Paikea -
HOCKEY by Murray Robertson
Paikea got up to win the match of the weekend in senior women’s hockey when they defeated Ngatapa in a thriller on the LJ Hooker Turf at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday.
JNL Paikea beat previously unbeaten Ben Holden Fencing Ngatapa 3-2 after scoring all the goals until midway through the third quarter, when Ngatapa slotted two of their own.
“The Ngatapa girls left their comeback too late and Paikea deserved the win,” Ngatapa co-coach Tony Scragg said.
“Our goalkeeper, Tessa Boys, was playing only her third game of hockey, so credit to her for the way she played.
“But the lion’s share of the credit goes to the Paikea girls. They created a lot more scoring opportunities.”
A hat-trick to Courtney Onekawa was the highlight of the YMP A women’s 7-0 victory over GMC Gold.
“The Gold team would take some heart from that scoreline,” Scragg said.
“They lost but they made YMP work for it.
“YMP created a lot of scoring chances, and it was clear from the match that their best is yet to come.”
Kodi Campbell scored three times in GMC Green’s first hit-out of the competition proper when her team beat YMP B 7-1.
“The YMP B side would take a lot out of that result, too,” Scragg said.
“The Green Machine players said to me afterwards they were just happy to get out there and play.
“They still have some work to do on their combinations.”
The hat-tricks kept on coming when Alesha Batisaresare scored a triple for GMC Kowhai in their solid 6-0 win against Te Aowera.
“Kowhai were leading by that score at halftime, so credit has to go to TA for the way they held them out in the second half,” Scragg said.
“For a team who struggled for numbers previously this season, that is a courageous and determined effort by TA.”
In the men’s games, Lytton Old Boys A got back into winning ways, 4-0 against YMP B.
“LOB still have a bit of work to do, but they’ll be encouraged by the result,” Scragg said.
“The extra playing time will have helped them sort out their team combinations.”
YMP A beat Lytton Old Boys B 4-0, but LOB could be proud of the result, nevertheless.
“YMP led 3-0 at halftime and the B team’s defence really dug in for the second half,” said Scragg, who played for the B team.
“They scored against us in the second half, but as far as we were concerned —playing against them — we felt as if we’d won the second half.
“The boys took a lot of heart out of that second-half effort.”
Detailed results — Women: YMP A 7 (Courtney Onekawa 3, Toni Halley 2, Phoebe Bint, Nancy Tarawa) GMC Gold 0. GMC Green 7 (Kodi Campbell 3, Kelsey Teneti 2, Anita Howard, Laura Main) YMP B 1 (Mel Knight). GMC Kowhai 6 (Alesha Batisaresare 3, Sacha Burns, Karyn Egan, Jade Stafford) Te Aowera 0. JNL Paikea 3 (Christine Henry, Tineille Charteris, Joanne Cumming) Ben Holden Ngatapa 2 (Briar Hunter, Alaina Vermeulen).
Men: LOB A 4 (Jayden McKay 2, Derek Peach 2) YMP B 0. YMP A 4 (Kieran Barker 2, Dylan Lardelli, Dylan Taylor) LOB B 0. THC defeated LOB Masters by default.