Dalefield may provide surprise

Dalefield could be the "dark horses" in the Wellington premier one men's hockey competition this season.
Coach Laurie Juno has a impressive-looking 18-man squad at his disposal and is justifiably optimistic about their prospects of over-turning the frustratingly large number of narrow losses they suffered in 2004.
Starting with their opening match against last year's beaten finalists Northern United at Clareville tomorrow.
"Potentially we would have to be as strong as we have ever been," Juno said. "It's a tough competition but we should do well."
Dalefield actually played the Jamie Schaefer-coached Northern United in a "friendly" last weekend and Juno was delighted with their 3-2 win.
"I know that result will count for nothing tomorrow but at least it showed we can compete with them. It should be a close go again," he said.
Juno said Dalefield would be aiming to expose possible weaknesses in the Northern United defence by playing an attacking style of hockey. "We will be out to take the game to them?.we won't be standing back and waiting for things to happen," he said.
Making his debut for Wairarapa United in the Wellington competition will be New Zealand under-21 player Marcus Emery, who has impressed Juno with his skill levels and high workrate.
Also in the side will be Toby White, a former Northern United and Wellington under-21 player who will be keen to come up trumps against his old side.
The full Dalefield squad is: Alan Brady, Mike Hicks, Toby White, Todd Sugrue, Daniel Juno, Greg Mason, Jeremy Linton, Marcus Emery, Jesse Workman, Casey Nolan, Mark Scully.Subs:Andy Ewington, Rowan Yeo, Gavin Champion, Matthew Tocker, Chris Mason.
Meanwhile, the Dalefield women's team will start their defence of the Wellington premier division title they won last season with a match against Harbour City at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow.
Harbour City were one of the weaker teams in the grade in 2004, but there are two good reasons why they can be expected to out Dalefield to the test on this occasion.
One is that they themselves have made some very useful gains in terms of playing resources and the other is that Dalefield will be somewhat short of full strength.
They will be missing their St Matthew's Collegiate players, including Kylie Henderson and Taasha Henson, because of inter-school commitments and the former Wellington-under 21 and Nelson player Emma Stean is sidelined through injury.
It's a situation which has Dalefield coach Andy Wilson conceding that his side may actually go into tomorrow's game as underdogs.
"The build-up has been a long way from perfect, it's going to be a tough one for us," he said
Spearheading the Dalefield attack will be current Wellington senior rep Elizabeth Perry, Ana Playle and the experienced Janeen Bruce, all of whom are prolific goal scorers.