`Easy-beats' delight coach with upset win

Dalefield continued their run of upsets by beating Northern United 2-1 in the Wellington premier division men's hockey match at Clareville on Saturday.
With wins over two of the teams to have qualified for next weekend's semifinals _ Indians and Hutt _ in their previous two games, Dalefield were already on a high and to beat yet another semifinalist was extraordinary for a side so used to being touted as among the ''easy beats'' of the premier division series.
In fact, Saturday's win meant that while Dalefield finished fifth at the end of the three preliminary rounds, they actually ''won'' the third of them, having registered three wins and a draw from their five games there, the only loss coming against the fourth semifinalist in Harbour City-Tawa.
Coach Lance Hare readily conceded Saturday's game was a somewhat scrappy affair, with Dalefield struggling to break open a congested Northern United defence throughout the first half, which ended at 1-1.
Northern United scored the opening goal, with Dalefield equalising through Willie Waitere to set up an an intriguing second spell.
The halftime message from Hare to his troops was to lift their work-rate and play with greater purpose and they responded well to that challenge, having clearly the better of the spell and scoring what was to be the winning goal when Mark Scully finished off a strong attack.
Scully was one of the most impressive Dalefield players with his willingness to run the ball at the Northern United defence, often having it stretched, while Dane Lett was typically consistent in midfield and skipper Willie Schaefer astutely marshalled the defence. Dalefield will now play off with University for fifth and sixth place next Saturday, but coach Hare is already delighted with the team. ''I always knew we had the potential to do something special and our third round results show just how much we have improved as the season has progressed,'' he said. ''Even now though we still have more to give, the best is still to come.''