St Matthew's 'play tough' for win

St Matthew's Collegiate "played tough" to beat Samuel Marsden 1-0 in a vital Wellington secondary schoolgirls premier one hockey match at Clareville last week.
It was a victory which took St Matthew's to the top of the points table and they are in no danger of being displaced this week with Wellington Girls already having defaulted their game which was to be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tonight.
Coach Abby Hill was delighted with the resolve shown by St Matthew's against a Samuel Marsden team which went into their game with an unbeaten record.
"They played tough, they backed each other up and made good decisions," she said. "No one in particular stood out, it was a true team effort."
St Matthew's kicked off their season with a 3-1 win over St Mary's and then came an 11-0 thrashing of Chilton St James , a hard-fought 2-2 draw against arch rivals Wairarapa College, a comfortable 7-0 win over Paraparaumu and the 1-0 thriller over Samuel Marsden.
Not surprisingly, one of the primary objectives now for St Matthew's is to maintain their competition lead but they are also looking forward to the Federation Cup national secondary schoolgirls tournament where a major placing is not beyond them.
The Wairarapa College first XI girls team will, no doubt, have similar aims.
They have had just the four Wellington premier one games to date and have started promisingly too, beating Wellington Girls 5-2, losing to Samuel Marsden 1-2, drawing with St Matthew's 2-2 and beating Wellington East 6-0.
They play St Mary's at the National Hockey Stadium tomorrow night and while St Mary's have had two wins and one draw from their five games Wairarapa College should have the edge on them.
In the Wellington secondary schoolboys premier one grade Wairarapa College is sitting third equal with St Pats Town on 10pts, three behind leaders, Hutt International Boys School, and two behind Wellington Boys. Rathkeale College lies sixth with 4pts.
Wairarapa College drew with St Pats Town 2-2 in their opening game and have since beaten Paraparaumu 3-0, beaten Rathkeale 2-0, beaten Rongotai 3-1 and lost to Wellington Boys 0-1. Rathkeale College have lost to Hutt Valley High 0-1, drawn with HIBS 0-0, lost to Wairarapa College 0-2, lost to Wellington Boys 0-1 and beaten Paraparaumu 3-2. Both Wairarapa College and Rathkeale play at Clareville tomorrow night, Wairarapa College against Hutt Valley High at 6.15pm and Rathkeale against St Pats Town at 7.30pm.