St Matthew's Collegiate coach Kim Henson wasn't about to lose any sleep over his team's 3-0 loss to St Hilda's Collegiate in their pool D match at the Federation Cup national secondary schoolgirls hockey tournament at Clareville yesterday.
For Henson it was simply a case of his young squad being outplayed by a better side on the day.
"We always knew this would be a tough one, they [St Hilda's] look to be one of the stronger teams here and we weren't consistent enough to hold them out."
A noticeable improvement in performance in the second half provided some hope for Henson that a quarterfinal spot was still within their capabilities.
"I thought the second half was pretty even and that gives us something to build on, we have to pick ourselves up and go again."
Goalkeeper Lucy Terry came through a busy game with flying colours for St Matthew's and others to shine were Hannah Lang and Petra Hall.
St Matthew's were to play Rangi Ruru last night with their top eight spot depending on the result of that game.
There was less pressure on defending Federation Cup champions Wairarapa College yesterday as they had guaranteed their quarterfinal place after the first day's play.
The Willie Schaefer-coached side beat Epsom Girls 3-0 and Gisborne Girls High 4-0 in their opening two pool games with national age group reps Katherine van Woerkom and Megan Hull playing a prominent role in both successes.
Diocesan School maintained their unbeaten record yesterday morning with a 4-0 win over Christchurch Girls, Rangi Ruru beat Palmerston North Girls High 3-1 and St Margaret's beat Kristin School 4-0.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa College have made a flying start to their Rankin Cup national secondary schoolboys hockey campaign at Wanganui, thumping Western Heights 9-3 in their first pool match and edging out Christchurch Boys High School 3-2 in the other, ensuring a place in the quarterfinals.
Mitchell Blackwood recorded a hat-trick against Western Heights with other scorers being Tane Workman (2), Alex Sumenko-Bucknell, Bradley Annear, Gus Wakeling and Joseph Robertson. Against Christchurch Boys the scorers were Workman, Robertson and Morgan Taylor.
Solway College also started well at their Evelyn Hankers secondary schoolgirls tournament in Wanganui, following a 2-1 win over Wanganui Girls College with a 6-0 thumping of Otorohanga College.
Federation Cup results
Wairarapa College scored an impressive 2-1 win over Whangarei Girls' High at the Federation Cup national secondary schoolgirls hockey tournament at Clareville yesterday to qualify for the quarter-finals as top seeds in their pool. They will next play Villa Maria College, starting at midday today. In other afternoon matches yesterday, Villa Maria beat Craighead Diocesan 3-0, Epsom Girls comfortably disposed of Gisborne Girls' High 7-0 and St Cuthbert's beat Rangitoto 3-0. At the Rankin Cup national secondary schoolboys tourney in Napier, Wairarapa College were beaten 4-0 by Kings College but still qualified for the quarterfinals, where they will play Timaru Boys' High.