Hockey: BOP Indians dominated by Pukekohe

Bay of Plenty Indians lost to the Pukekohe Indians in Rotorua.

It was "just one of those days" for the Bay of Plenty Indians, as they lost to the Pukekohe Indians in Rotorua.

The Rotorua-based Bay of Plenty Indians lost 8-2 to the Pukekohe Indians on Saturday in the tough Midlands intercity competition.

The BOP Indians were coming off their first win in the competition, during the last round, but could not back that up with a victory on Saturday at Smallbone Park.

Pukekohe raced out to a big lead in the first half before the Rotorua side lifted their performance in the second.

Coach Karandeep Lall said it was a good game but a tough match with the bare minimum players.

"We only had 11 players and that was it ... it was just one of those days."

Lall said the players were still recovering a bit from an Indian hockey tournament in Wellington during Queen's Birthday weekend.

"We had six or seven good chances to put the ball away [on Saturday] but the psychological mind set was still down in Wellington."

Lall said their standout player on Saturday was centre forward Surinder Singh.

Meanwhile, the Rotorua Aces also suffered a loss on Saturday, 6-2 against Mount Maunganui.

The Aces, Rotorua's other intercity men's team, recorded some good form of late but were well beaten at the weekend.

Both Rotorua clubs now sit in the bottom half of the ladder and will be hoping for a stronger second half to the season.

Next weekend the Rotorua Aces will play One Puke (Pukekohe) and the Indians will play Tauranga Old Boys.