Dalefield sound warning to rivals

Dalefield's Katherine van Woerkom dives to clear the ball. PHOTO/CHRIS KILFORD

DALEFIELD stamped themselves as a serious contender for the Wellington premier division women's hockey title in 2016 with a stirring 5-2 win over previously unbeaten Eastern Hutt at Clareville on Saturday.

It was the toughest test by far for Dalefield who had racked up four wins and a draw from their previous five games to sit second on the competition table and they came through with flying colours.

Right from the opening whistle the determination of Dalefield not to be intimidated by the reputation of their opposition was crystal clear.

The opening stanzas saw Dalefield placing huge pressure on the Eastern Hutt defence and they were rewarded after five minutes when Kelsey Smith put them 1-0 up.

There was never much doubt, of course, that a team of Eastern Hutt's calibre would fight back and they launched several promising attacks of their own only to be constantly thwarted by a tenacious Dalefield defence.

However, the visitors kept the foot on the pedal and levelled things up after a goalmouth melee.

The question now was how the mainly young Dalefield combination would respond to this setback and five minutes later came the answer, Michael O'Connor taking full advantage of the time and space given her to find the back of the net. Dalefield 2, Eastern Hutt 1.

That goal seemed to throw Eastern Hutt off stride to an extent, certainly enough for Dalefield to constantly probe gaps in their defence and with halftime almost up they went ahead 3-1, Brigette Mossman making the initial thrust and Kristy Anderson scoring the goal.

It was Eastern Hutt who called the tune early in the second spell but just as they had in the first they found it difficult to pierce a composed and tightknit Dalefield defence Eventually though a goal did come and again Dalefield responded magnificently, earning themselves a penalty corner from which Emma Smith scored. Dalefield 4, Eastern Hutt 2.

And it was the home team who had the final say too, Smith registering her second goal to complete what, in the end, was a rather comprehensive victory.

Overall this was a brilliant team effort by Dalefield with all squad members rising to the challenge but if any player of the day award had to be given then Katherine van Woerkom would have been the leading contender. She was absolutely fearless on defence and linked well with her front runners on attack.

For coach Andy Wilson the most pleasing aspect of the game was the confidence boost it will give his players going forward. "We now know we can compete with the very best in Wellington. We won't be getting too carried away because there are still areas to improve on but it was good win, very good."

The icing on the cake for Dalefield was then provided by their men's team who also turned in an outstanding performance to demolish Indians 6-1 in another Wellington premier division top-of-the-table clash.

It was the brilliance of their play in the first half which really shone in this Dalefield performance. They rocked Indians by rattling in four goals over that period and from that point it was all over bar the shouting. The second half was more evenly contested but at no stage did Indians ever look like bridging the gap.

Dalefield coach Willie Schaefer said his side went into the game determined to make an early statement on their opposition and he was delighted with the manner in which they set up goal scoring opportunities, and generally made the most of them.

"The first half was great, the second half wasn't so flash," Schaefer said. "We weren't quite as controlled then and they probably had as much of the play as we did."

Youngster Wills Taylor was a standout for Dalefield at right half and whenever Indians threatened goalkeeper Josh Forsyth was invariably equal to the task.