One-track focus costs TCOB

OPEN GOAL: Marist's Guido Cousin tangles with TCOB goalie Andrew Thomas but still steers the ball home at the Gonville Domain on Saturday.PHOTOS/STUART MUNRO 040615WCSMHOCKEY2

WHILE the best defence is usually a good offence, a one-tracked mind is going to leave you exposed as both Tech College Old Boys teams discovered in their losses to the Palmerston North Marist squads on Saturday.

At the Gonville Domain, the TCOB men made a litany of midfield turnovers and their furious goalie Andrew Thomas would then find himself nearly all alone, which put the home side behind 3-0 on the way to a 7-3 loss.

Over at the Twin Turfs, 'Techno' had a late afternoon start after the women's match got rescheduled and likewise gave up breakaway goals after long periods on attack to end up losing 6-1.

TCOB men's coach Colleen Baylis said once again, the team fell into the trap of trying long passes instead of sticking to the short game.

Into the second round of Manawatu Division 1 games now, opposition teams are used to countering that style and Marist exploited it to the full.

"That's what it comes down to every week," said Baylis. "We had a least three, maybe four goals from unmarked players.

"It was frustrating because we spoke before the game about marking players."

Down 2-0 at halftime, TCOB went 3-0 behind before they started to turn it around, changing structure before the break. The home side dominated the final 15 minutes but their three goals came too late.

Baylis had to tip her hat to PN Marist, who just a couple of winters ago were the easy-beats of the competition, but this year sit top of the table with seven wins from eight games and a whopping 24-point goal differential.

"They've done the hard yards. They've put a lot of effort in, the last few years. It would be nice if that's somewhere Tech can be in a couple of years."

As well as Thomas having to work overtime, Josh McDonnell had a good game while Bryce McKenzie brought his usual high workrate.

Techno had previously played Marist at the Twin Turfs but a change in the schedule saw them heading back over for the 4.30pm match.

"Which didn't suit my girls," said manager Ian Glenny. "We just couldn't score any goals."

Down 3-0 at halftime, Techno closed the gap when they scored from a penalty corner, but despite enough time on attack, they could not breach the goalmouth again.

Meanwhile, Marist showed it is not about time in opposition half but what you do while you are there, as they scored three of their goals almost immediately from turnovers and breakouts after holding Techno out.

"They just counter-balanced and they had a very good game," Glenny said.

"We didn't capitalise as we should have. I was frustrated with things not going to plan."

There could be few excuses as this was the same Marist team Techo had beaten 2-0 in the preseason HMI Cup and then 7-1 in April.

Collegians' problems with numbers continued as they defaulted their away game to Massey.

Sitting on six points each, both Techno and Collegians are technically still in touch with the Top 4, although fourth-placed Palmerston North Girls High, currently on 10 points, have a few more games in hand.

With a host of players away at under-18 tournaments, Collegians and Techno will defer this Saturday's game to another time, while Techno will also be targeting their game against the winless HSHC Rebels on July 18.

TCOB men were due to play Hawke's Bay this weekend, however Baylis said they also have seven players out at the under-18 events, so they are also looking to defer the match to another day.

They have yet to play Hawke's Bay. after they defaulted the May 16 away game.