Hockey: Collegians make it on a reserve tank

STAR TURN: Collegians forward Lizzy Brooks-Mann (left) in control over Rebels defender Becca Thomson; Lizzy was the star on the day, scoring the winning goals for the home side. Photo/Stuart Munro

WANGANUI Collegians overcame illness and a shortage of players to finish top of the bottom three in the Manawatu Senior Women's division 1 competition when beating HSHC Rebels at the Gonville Domain on Saturday.

Collegians forward Lizzy Brooks-Mann scored both the home side's goals in the 2-1 victory over the visitors from Palmerston North.

Collegians senior player Haley Mallinder said they were only able to just scrape a team together on the day with many players unavailable through illness.

"We only managed to get 12 of us together and three that did play on Saturday were also crook, so it was a good win on our part," Mallinder said.

The match was an end-of-season final round robin game to decide the best of the three teams at the bottom of the competition table. Wanganui's Techno ended the season with the Wooden Spoon.

"We didn't have many of our younger girls available, so it was a bit tough on the legs, especially with only one reserve," Mallinder said.

"Everyone had to really pull their socks up. Lizzy Brooks-Mann scored both our goals.

"It was probably the best game we've played against Rebels all season."

Both sides were happy with the umpiring on the day, an aspect of the competition that had been under scrutiny this season, Mallinder said.

"The umpiring was great on Saturday. We had two men from the division 2 competition umpiring and they did a fantastic job. Umpiring has been under a bit of scrutiny this season, but even Rebels were happy on Saturday."

Meanwhile, Wanganui TCOB ended the season fifth on the table of the Manawatu Men's division 1 competition with a 4-3 win over MCOB on Saturday.

Senior TCOB player Trent Williamson said the victory avenged a loss to the Levin team last time they met.

"We really should have beaten them last time, so this was a good win for us," he said.

"There's been illness in our team the last week or so and, in fact, I lost 4.5kg myself over the last week. We also had one player out after he broke his fingers."

Goal scorers for TCOB were Williamson, Reuben Gedye, Lee Moir and Callum Wilbur.