A CHANGE of tactics in the second half helped Dalefield wallop Northern United 5-1 in their Wellington premier division promotion-relegation women's hockey match at Clareville on Saturday. Dalefield, who found themselves facing possible relegation from the premier league in 2008 after finishing at the bottom of the points table this season,led by just 1-0 at the break but outclassed Northern United in the second spell. Captain Ana-May Playle said Dalefield had been "bunching up" on attack in the first half and the message at halftime had been to use the width of the pitch to a greater extent. "Once we started to move the ball wider on attack we started to find more holes in their defence and we scored some nice goals," Playle said. The return of the experienced Janeen Bruce gave Dalefield extra zip up front while Karen James was outstanding at right inner, Tania Scott was reliable on defence and goalkeeper Sarah Crofoot recovered from a bout of sickness to give her usual solid display. Victory means Dalefield will again play in the premier division next season and Playle said that was very definitely the motivating force for the team on Saturday. "For the good of the Dalefield club and Wairarapa hockey in general we simply had to win," Playle said. "There were no ifs and buts, anything less than a good win wasn't going to be enough."
