Waikato teams riding high

Kakatahi's Stewart Ford and Jude Stephenson follow the ball during their interclub match-up at MacNab Domain, near Upokongaro, on Saturday. Photo/Rae Cliffe

The dominant polocrosse club from Waikato stamped their mark during the annual Kakatahi club carnival, at Kaiwhaiki's MacNab Domain at the weekend.

Sixteen teams, including six from the hosting Kakatahi, contested the three grades of games, as the Putaruru-Tirau teams won one title and came runners-up twice.

A combination of horseback polo and the sport of lacrosse, there can be some hard contacts between horses and riders as their No1 and/or No2 riders look to sling the rubber ball through the goalposts to rack up the points.

Teams consist of six players, who must use the same horse throughout except in the case of injury.

In the five-team C Grade, which had a final playoff match, Putaruru-Tirau 3 were the winners, with Kakatahi C1 runners-up. The A and B grades were round robin format.

B grade was won by Kakatahi B2, with Putaruru-Tirau 2 finishing second among five teams, while the top A grade was taken out by Hawke's Bay's Te Mata 1, with Putaruru-Tirau 1 getting another runner-up spot for their club.

The 16 teams were two more than attended the 2013 carnival.

Also honoured are the best rider/horse combinations in every grade.

Riders judged the standouts were Putaruru-Tirau's Grace Tye (C grade), Kakatahi's Craig Doyle (B grade), and Putaruru-Tirau's Daniel Stirling (A grade).

Kakatahi's Katie Wills, Bayley Phillips, Georgia Walford, Kiriana Butler and Carey Cornelius will represent New Zealand Under 21 and U21 Development in a tournament in Otorohanga this coming weekend.