Wairarapa have made it into the quarter-finals at the Hatch Cup national under-13 boys hockey tournament in Christchurch.
After winning their three previous pool games, they guaranteed their place in the top eight with a convincing 4-0 win over Bay of Plenty on Wednesday morning. It was a solid all-roundperformance by Wairarapa with Henry Phelps and Sam Smith each scoring two goals.
The only loss suffered by Wairarapa in pool play came on Wednesday afternoon when they were beaten 2-0 by North Harbour, the team most pundits have installed as favourites for the national title.
They were, however, given a stern test by Wairarapa with the first goal coming just before halftime and the second in the dying stages when Wairarapa coach Kerry Hare elected to boost his team's attacking strength by taking his goalie off.
It was a calculated risk which led to Wairarapa placing extra pressure on the North Harbour defence but they had nothing to show for their efforts.
North Harbour, on the other hand, had a penalty corner well saved by Wills Taylor before they managed the field goal, which made the result safe for them.
Overall, however, it was a brave showing from Wairarapa with Henry Phelps, Wills Taylor, Ethan Presow and Alex Hare all having excellent games.
That defeat meant Wairarapa qualified for the top eight in second place behind North Harbour in their pool and put them into a quarter-final against unbeaten Canterbury, who won five from five in their pool.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa had a 1-1 draw with Hawke's Bay and a 3-2 loss to Nelson on the third day of play at the Collier Trophy national girls under-13 tournament at Pakuranga.
Annabel Butterick scored the goal against Hawke's Bay while Poppy Lambert and Nicola Wall netted against Nelson.
With two draws and three losses from five games, Wairarapa finished bottom of their pool and were to play Auckland B in the first of their crossover games.
