Goal just in the nick of time

FAST WORK: Dalefield's Alex Sumenko-Bucknell rounds the Harbour City Tawa keeper Matt Papesch.

For sheer excitement the final stanzas of Dalefield's drawn Capital premier men's hockey match with Harbour City Tawa at Clareville could not have been scripted any better.

Going into the last minute of what had been an exciting and entertaining opening game for the 2015 season, the much heralded revamped Dalefield side looked headed for defeat.

After being 3-1 at halftime through two goals to Joseph Robertson and one to Dane Lett and looking set for a sizeable win, they had worn the full brunt of a spirited Harbour City Tawa comeback and were trailing 5-4 with time almost up, the fourth Dalefield goal having been scored by Junior Black Stick Benedict van Woerkom.

Then came a last-ditch attack from the home team and just before the hooter signalling fulltime was sounded, a corner was forced.

It was now or never for the locals and they responded brilliantly with Benedict van Woerkom again to the fore, deflecting the ball into the goal to give them a 5-5 draw.

Few would argue the end result was a fair enough indication of the merits of the two sides.

After conceding an early goal, Dalefield had a clear edge on their opposition through most of the first half. With skipper Dane Lett controlling the midfield, Alex Sumenko-Bucknell and Joseph Robertson showing plenty of dash and enterprise up front and Daniel van Woerkom and Trent Lett spearheading a solid defence, they were good value for their two-goal advantage at the break.

The second spell was a different story.

Not only did Harbour City Tawa lift their effort several notches and impress with the proficiency of their finishing work, Dalefield were often their own worst enemies because of a habit to lose possession through individuals either going a metre too far or passes not finding their target.

In short their teamwork was not as fluent as it needed to be, hardly a surprise considering their lack of preparation going into such a high-pressure game.

All things considered then this was a thoroughly commendable performance from a Dalefield side which is still very much a work in progress.

Under the astute coaching of Willie Schaefer they clearly have the potential to make a decent impact in one of the country's toughest club competitions and win, lose or draw they are guaranteed to be crowd pleasers because of their speed and high individual skill levels.

This was a good start, better is to come.