Hockey: Ōtūmoetai on the board in Intercity hockey competition

Tiaan Buys and Sandeep Singh battle it out in the Men's Intercity Cup hockey competition in Rotorua between Aces (red) v Bay of Plenty Indians. Photo / Andrew Warner

Ōtūmoetai Magic have earned their first win of the women's Intercity Trophy hockey competition, putting six goals past Rotorua side Marist St Michaels.

Ōtūmoetai went into the week four fixture without a win and bounced back from their 5-2 loss to rivals Mount Maunganui a week before to beat Marist 6-1 in Rotorua on Saturday.

Ōtūmoetai went ahead early in the first quarter but could not convert their chances, and Marist equalised before halftime.

The goals flowed for Ōtūmoetai as they scored four times in the third quarter to help earn what player-manager Kaye Barnett described as an important win.

"We have had a rough start to the season, we were missing players in the first two games, and we didn't play so well against Mount. We needed to get on the board with a win. We started to gel a bit better and managed to make better decisions."

Barnett says Ōtūmoetai's lift in productivity came from working together.

"We stuck at it, we had some things we were trying to work on. When the goals came, they were good team goals."

Ōtūmoetai's opponents in week five are an unbeaten and rested Rotorua Aces team, coming off the bye. Aces are one of three unbeaten sides along with Hamilton Old Girls and Fraser Tech.

"We always have a good honest game against Aces," Barnett says.

In the men's competition, Aces suffered their first loss, going down 2-1 to fellow Rotorua side Bay of Plenty Indians. Aces' three wins still have them in third. They take on University in Hamilton this weekend.

Intercity hockey results for Saturday, May 18:
Men's Intercity Cup:
Aces 1, Bay of Plenty Indians 2.
Suburbs 2, Te Awamutu 7.
Onewhero-Pukekohe 1, University 5.
Kohekohe 2, Collegians 3.
Hamilton Old Boys 5, Tauranga Old Boys 3.
Pukekohe Indians 5, Waiau Pirates 0.
Women's Intercity Trophy:
Hamilton Old Girls 8, Mount Maunganui 1.
Waiau Pa 2, Fraser Tech 7.
Marist St Michaels 1, Ōtūmoetai Magic 6
University 3, Te Awamutu 1.

Intercity hockey draw for Saturday, May 25:
Women's Intercity Trophy:
2pm Fraser Tech v CMS Mount, Tauranga
2pm Marist St Michaels v Hamilton Old Girls, Hamilton
3.30pmTe Awamutu v Waiau Pa, Pukekohe
2pm Aces v Ōtūmoetai Magic, Rotorua
University, bye
Men's Intercity Cup:
3.30pm Te Awamutu v Bay of Plenty Indians, Rotorua
1.45pmUniversity v Aces, Hamilton
4.45pmCollegians v Suburbs, Hamilton
3.15pmTauranga Old Boys v Onewhero-Pukekohe, Pukekohe
5pm Waiau Pirates v Kohekohe, Pukekohe
3.15pmFraser Tech v Hamilton Old Boys, Hamilton
Pukekohe Indians, bye