Wairarapa's seventh placing did not reflect their overall performance at the Hatch Cup national under-13yrs boys' hockey tournament, which finished at Clareville on Saturday.
Luck did not go Wairarapa's way after they achieved their initial objective of qualifying for the quarter-finals, a big improvement on the previous year when theyfinished in 16th position.
A 1-0 defeat by eventual finalist North Harbour in the quarters was tinged with controversy. North Harbour's goal appeared to have been scored after the scorer had kicked the ball while Wairarapa also had the misfortune to have a goal disallowed.
That defeat left Wairarapa playing off for between fifth and eighth and victory over Northland seemed almost assured when they led 1-0 going into the last couple of minutes of play. However, Northland came up with a late goal to force the match to penalty strokes and they took the honours by converting their shots while Wairarapa managed only two.
The best Wairarapa could do now was seventh and they had to withstand a strong challenge from Horowhenua before clinching that placing by 2-1, Michael Brewster and Gus Wakeling scoring.
The tournament final was played between Auckland and North Harbour with Auckland - who had beaten Wairarapa 1-0 in pool play - producing their best performance of the week to win by a convincing 4-0.
Other playoff matches results: Third and fourth: Northland 1, Waikato 0. Fifth and sixth: Wellington 1, Canterbury 0. Seventh and eighth: Wairarapa 2, Horowhenua 1. Ninth and 10th: Tauranga 2, Bay of Plenty 0. 11th and 12th: Hawke's Bay 2, Otago 0. 13th and 14th: Counties Manukau 4, South Canterbury 1. 15th and 16th: Nelson 2, Taranaki 0. 17th and 18th: Manawatu 8, Central Otago 0. 19th and 20th: Marlborough 2, West Coast 0. 21st and 22nd: Southland 10, Mid Canterbury 0; 23rd and 24th: Thames Valley 5, Buller 0.
Wairarapa placed 11th at the Collier Trophy national under-13 girls tournament in Palmerston North and they too could be considered unlucky not to have come up with a higher seeding after missing the quarterfinals on countback.
