Hockey: HSHC looking unstoppable

Maggie Symes had a number of early chances for Collegians against HSHC at Gonville Domain on Saturday.

High School Hockey Club will be hard to stop in either the men's or women's grades of the 2014 Manawatu League after they ran their Wanganui opposition out of legs at Gonville Domain on Saturday afternoon.

Across both the Collegians women and the Tech Old Boys (TCOB) men's games the collective tally was an embarrassing 18-1, with both HSHC teams going on a goal scoring shootout deep inside the final quarter after being held well by the locals till that point.

Across in Palmerston North, TCOB women finally got some game time after having the bye first-up, then their opening match postponed because so many Manawatu players were involved at the Festival of Hockey in Hawkes Bay before the Easter break.

It was a tough ask against the defending champions Massey, but Techno defended well thanks to their NZ Maori goalkeeper Melissa Hylton before they lost 3-0.

The TCOB men's team could find little consolation from their 10-1 hammering, their sole goal coming from player-coach Trent Williamson in the first half "when I wasn't puffing too much".

Down 3-1 at the break but playing without regular Callum Wilbur (bruised ribs) and a dearth of strikers, two more injuries to TCOB late in the game compounded problems Williamson has had getting full numbers to training.

After HSHC, the 2012-13 champions, banged in seven more goals, Williamson told the wider squad members that if he could score at 37-years-old, they could do some work to get themselves up to that level.

"It's the same old story, it's too young.

"I gave them a right royal bollocking at fulltime, and at halftime."

Having the bye, this coming weekend, he wants to have the squad "all guns blazing" for MCOB on May 10, which will be the club's Old Boys Day.

Collegians likewise thought they were doing pretty well to only trail 2-0 at the break and then 3-0 late in the piece.

The HSHC women were lightning with their passes and able to trap the ball on the run without breaking stride very swift from one end of the turf to the other.

Nonetheless, it took 15 minutes before they could knock one into the net, while Collegians had chances through Maggie Symes on the break on a couple of occasions.

However, they leaked five goals inside the final 10 minutes, which manager Kellie Watkin put down to a lack of experience

"We did silly stuff that let them score, pretty much.

"It was a combination, we ran out of legs because we tried to outrun them, which they were never going to do.

"[HSHC] pass and move into space, and we chased the ball instead of holding the space."

With Haley Mallinder still out with concussion, Collegians had 12 players in an unsettled line-up, with the likes of Gillian Lennox playing her first game in three years.

Watkin said they hoped it was their one horror game in 2014 and HSHC should push Massey for the title.

"They're all the Central Under 21 or the NHL team.

"Just one schoolgirl, and the rest are older."

TCOB women would be a good judge of that after their match with the defending champions.

Co-coach Ian Glenny said against the top teams, his squad had to accept they would be defending 80-85 per cent of the time, so every rare chance must count.

Defensively, they were still strong with "a lot of that due to having a very, very strong goalie," Glenny said.

Hylton had improved considerably in both her speed and reading of play after returning from NZ Maori duties and communicated well with the Techno backs.

Down 2-0 at the break, Techno's best chance was a Holly Brasting shot which rebounded, which Kylie Penn then whacked but found the Massey keeper up to the task.

All the women's games in the Manawatu League are deferred this weekend due to a big under-21 tournament.