Hockey: Tough clashes for Stratford teams with mixed results

- Brian Darth Funeral Services Stratford Men's A

The Brian Darth Funeral Services Stratford Men's A hockey team had double duty this week with a catch up game against a strong New Plymouth Boys High School team on Monday evening. Stratford were wanting to control the game and after some good work from the right side attack, found Caleb Robinson on the left hand corner of the post to go 1-0 early in the game. Stratford maintained pressure and scored off a Gil Sandford penalty corner, followed by a field goal just before half time. Half time score 3-0.

Boys High was a different team in the second half, and placed pressure on Stratford, who were guilty of a disjointed attack. Stratford's penalty corner defence were solid and repelled Boys High nine attacking corners in the second half. Chris West had an outstanding game in goal, along with Adrian Burden playing well at right half. Stratford when they combined together went on to score another two goals and high school added a field goal to finish with a 5-1 win.

Stratford then followed up its second game this week against Te Kiri. With a new style of structure they put Stratford under pressure right from the start. Stratford struggled to connect, but absorbed their pressure, and with its first outing into Te Kiri's half, resulted in Stratford scoring from a penalty corner from Curtis Boyde. This spurred Stratford on, and it wasn't long before Scott Williams was denied a shot at goal resulting in a penalty stroke, which Boyde converted nicely. Half time score 2-0 to Stratford.

After a good half time discussion, Stratford started the second half strong and resulted in a lot of good opportunities, but defence by Te Kiri repelled Stratford's attack every time. Te Kiri then scored from a defensive error a field goal, and pressure mounted on Stratford. Luck just didn't go Stratford's way for most of the second half with miss-traps, and lack of composure. Another defensive error led to Te Kiri scoring their second goal and equalising 2-2. Stratford were unlucky with a couple of late scoring attacks, but Te Kiri defence played well to deny Stratford attack, final score 2-2.

- CMK Stratford A Women

CMK Stratford A Women's hockey teams' game versus Hawera women saw Stratford's first loss for the season. Hawera punished Stratford for simple mistakes within the first 10-20 minutes of the game, seeing Hawera's first goal 15 minutes into the first half. Their second and final goal against Stratford came within the 5-10 minutes following. A high work ethic from the midfield saw Hawera's key players somewhat excluded from the game in the second half, keeping possession more even between the teams. Attacking opportunities down the right hand side created penalty corners for Stratford - none of which were conceded. Grant Boyde named Annika Roodbeen, Katie Taylor, Jessica Taunt and Chloe Jackson as outstanding players throughout the game. CMK Stratford Women's A now has a three week break. Consistent attendance at Wednesday night trainings is essential for all players during these three weeks.

- CMK Accountants Stratford Avon

CMK Accountants Stratford Avon played Northern United Black on Saturday in Stratford. Avon had a great game in what turned out to be a very even match with play moving end to end and neither team being able to finish off. The young front line for Avon did great work in the opposition circle and secured a number of penalty corners, Black defended them well. The same can be said for Avon who also did a very good job of defending their goal when under attack. Avon's player of the day went to goalkeeper, Ben Foskin. Final score Avon 0 Black 0.

- Le Dejeuner Catering Broadway

Le Dejeuner Catering Broadway played the top team Northern Gold in New Plymouth on Saturday. This was always going to be a hard game to win, but Broadway needed to compete. Broadway started well with great opportunities to score but were up against one of Taranaki's best goalies. It took Northern 12 minutes before they scored their first goal. Broadway never gave up and by half time were down 6-0. The speed of the game started to take its toll as Broadway gave away seven penalty corners and a stroke in the second half to go down 10-0. Broadway's player of the day was Ethan Lehmann. This was Ethan's first game for Broadway and he showed great skills and passing of the ball.

- Stuart Bayly Contracting Stratford Women's B

Stuart Bayly Contracting Stratford Women's B played New Plymouth Girls High School in New Plymouth on Saturday night. It was gearing up to be a wet game but thankfully the rain stopped for the majority of the game. Stratford started with strong defence and finished the first half only 2-0 down. In the second half Stratford managed to hold the final score at 6-0. Katie Dettling in the goal saved at least another ten attempts and showed great leadership instructing the backs and halves to open players. Player of the day went to Natarsha Hey for her amazing determination and defensive work.