Hockey: HB title hopes rising with win over capital

The National Masters Hockey Tournament played out in Napier yesterday.

Talk about completing the set and Hawke's Bay men's 40-plus hockey team's player-coach Graeme Findlay's eyes light up.

"We got third last year and second the year before ... it will be good to complete the set with a gold on home turf," Findlay said after his team opened their National Masters Hockey Tournament campaign with a 6-1 drubbing of Wellington in Napier yesterday.

"This team has been building for the past three years and we've also benefited from players just coming into the age group," Findlay said.

One of his newcomers is striker Greg Nicol, who scored two of the Bay's goals. Northland's Paul Smelling, one of five draft players in the team, also scored two goals while Graeme Nel, another draft player from Taupo, and Bay stalwart Phil Thomas added the others for the hosts who led 3-0 at halftime.

"It's great to have a player of Greg's goal-scoring ability involved. He is a lot more quiet as a player than he is as a coach," Findlay quippedof Nicol.

Several of the Bay's five draft players have played for the Bay for the last three years. Findlay said the draft players are from regions which would struggle to field an entire squad in the age group. "It's hard to get 16 players from a smaller region. Having the draft players makes it easier particularly when we travel away like next year when we will go to Nelson," Findlay explained.

He predicted North Harbour, their opponents on Wednesday, to provide them with their toughest competition.

Hawke's Bay men's 55plus team lost 11-1 to Nelson at the Unison Hockey Stadium in Hastings.

"I got a sore back from bending down to pick up the ball after each of Nelson's goals," Hawke's Bay goalie Dan McAleese joked.

"Seriously though we've got a lot of players who have only played a little bit of summer hockey and are here to have a bit of fun. After trailing 9-1 at halftime we improved a lot in the second half," McAleese added.

Lyn Cooper scored the Bay's only goal. "It was Lyn's only shot on goal. Hopefully he maintains that 100 per cent success rate for the rest of the week," McAleese added.

The Hawke's Bay women's 45plus side lost 4-1 to Wellington in Napier after trailing 3-1 at halftime. Tanya August scored the Bay's goal.

Both the Hawke's Bay men's 50plus and 35plus teams were still playing when Hawke's Bay Today went to press last night. Hawke's Bay's 40-plus women's side begin their campaign today.