Combined hockey side stumble at final hurdle

STRIKER: Wanganui Combined's striker Lisa Grant (pink) scored her side's only goal in the 3-1 loss to College Development in the Manawatu division 2 premier women's hockey final at the weekend.

On any other day it may well have spelled victory for Wanganui combined in Saturday's Manawatu Winter Senior division 2 premier women's hockey final.

The Wanganui women went down 3-1 to Palmerston North College Development in a match of lost opportunities.

Player/coach Colleen Baylis said apart from two spells of lax concentration, the Wanganui women played well creating numerous scoring opportunities.

"The match came down to them converting and we didn't - simple as that really," Baylis said yesterday.

"There was a 10 minute spell that was a wee bit hectic and we just didn't defend that well. That allowed them to get off to a good start. We did bounce back from that, but had another spell later when we should have made tackles and didn't.

"We created a lot of opportunities that simply weren't converted. On any other day it could have been a convincing win.

"But in saying that they played very well and are a strong side. It just wasn't our day. We hey, we've done bloody well to get here [to the final]. Getting all these girls who wouldn't normally have played together into a team wasn't a bad effort," Baylis said.

Baylis singled out goal scoring striker Lisa Grant out for special praise along with midfielders Michelle Low and Nic Skedgewell for creating opportunities.

There was one consolation, however.

The Wanganui women won the trophy for the most goals scored during the season. The Wanganui girls scored 36 and had 11 scored against them, while competition winners College Development scored 29 and had 28 against.

Meanwhile, all Wanganui sides playing in Manawatu competitions had something to brag about.

Six Whanganui teams competed in Hockey Manawatu Inc competitions during the 2016 season with five of the six making semi-finals at least. TCOB finished fifth in the men's premier division 1 competition.

The Wanganui women's combined have done best so far finishing runner-up in the final, while the Whanganui High School and Wanganui Collegiate School boys and girls 1st X1 teams play semi-finals in their competitions on Thursday.

The WHS and WCS boys meet each other on the Collegiate turf on Thursday, while the girls sides play their semis in Palmerston North.

But the real jewel in the crown was Emma Rainey being named U21 Player of the Year in the Manawatu competition.

Hockey Wanganui chief executive Kylie Penn said this record was something for a small association to be proud of.

And Wanganui age group representative teams have also excelled during a mini tournament at Gonville Domain at the weekend.

The U15 Boys won three from three, including a a 9-nil thrashing of Manawatu. They also accounted for Hawkes Bay 5-1 and Wellington 1-0.

The U15 Girls had a draw and two wins. They drew 3-all with Poverty Bay before beating Hawkes Bay 1-0. They then played Poverty Bay again after the late withdrawal of Manawatu winning that match 5-2.

The U13 teams play their mini tournaments this weekend coming.