Targets before results, says Dalefield coach

Dalefield men's hockey coach Greg Clark is a realist.

The former Black Stick concedes his team won't be challenging for the Wellington premier division men's title this season - but that was never his prime objective when he took charge just before the 2012 season got under way.

Taking over a team missing three of their big guns from the previous season - Dane and Trent Lett and Jesse Workman - and containing a number of players new to the pressures of premier division play, Clark understood the need to set achievable targets rather than worry about end results.

So his stated aim right from stepping in to fill a vacancy which was threatening to end Dalefield's participation at the top level was for the team to consistently show improvement and while three matches have produced three losses he believes they have done exactly that.

"We've taken a step forward every time we have played and that's how we want it to be," Clark said.

Last weekend's fixture with Hutt in Wellington was a good case in point. It was 0-0 at halftime and while Hutt netted four goals in the second spell Dalefield scored one of their own through Joseph Robertson.

That game marked the return of the talented Andy Ewington to the Dalefield line-up after a successful overseas stint and he made a big impression, both in midfield and on defence.

Ewington will again be expected to lead the way when Dalefield host Harbour City at Clareville tomorrow.

Harbour City are coming off the back of a 4-3 loss to Northern United in a match which saw them fall 4-1 behind at one stage while the previous weekend they accounted for Hutt by three goals, a win which propelled them to the top of the points table.

Clark says Dalefield, who will be without experienced defender Greg Mason and his brother Chris, will be adopting their usual tactics which, put simply, are based around scoring more goals than the opposition.

"You don't learn anything by sitting back and letting the other team make all the play."