Aber Hamilton Old Boys sit alone at the top of the Waikato Premier Men’s Hockey competition after this weekends match against first round leaders Suburbs. Old Boys dominated from the outset with Mike Petherick and Richard Petherick both converting from the set piece within the first ten minutes. Declan Keaney extended the advantage to three before Suburbs Lachie Musgrave clinically finished off to… give his side some heart. Troy Smith restored the three goal advantage for Old Boys on the cusp of half time. The half time pep talk from Coach Russ Brennan must of been inspirational as Chris Rees-Gibbs added a fifth goal immediately from the restart. Rees-Gibbs added a sixth before the Suburbs finally showed some resolve. Playing with more accuracy Suburbs were eventually rewarded with Leon Teao completing the scoring. The 6-2 win for Old Boys sees them 3 points clear of Suburbs and University who both have a game in hand and also Fraser Tech who took maximum points from their 4-2 win over bottom placed Ecolab Te Awamutu. Tech lead early into the first half with Jimmy Linehan converting but with Te Awamutu showing more resolve than in last weeks encounter that lead was short lived when Shaun Hazelton equalised. Tech stole the advantage early into the second stanza when both Matt Taylor and Elijah Graham converted looked to have giving their side a comfy two goal cushion. Te Awamutu responded exerting their own attacking pressure to earn bracket of PC’s eventually converting one through Krispin Kaman. The fight back was snuffed out by Liam Brake who completed the scoring for a vital 4-2 win for Tech ahead of next weeks encounter against Old Boys. University had the bye and have the 4th Annual Ben Gilby-Todd Memorial match against Suburbs next week.
In Women’s matches, Storage King University took full toll on a depleted PR Consulting University side to lead 5-0 by half time. With an empty bench the Uni B side conceded a further ten goals in a second half romp by the “A” team. Emma Andrews led the way with five goals alongside Jess Turner who completed a hat trick in the 15-0 rout. The large goal difference leap frogs the students into top spot ahead of Fraser Tech who were made to work harder for their three points against Ecolab Te Awamutu. Tech took 25 minutes to break through a resolute Te Awamutu defence with promising Tech striker Acacia Kelsen breaking the deadlock. Julia Ebert clinically finished off a flowing attacking move to extend the lead to two prior to the break. Chloe Nesbitt converted a PC variation for Te Awamutu to reduce the lead then Kylie Mulcahy gained parity to set up a gripping finish. Tech dominated the midfield where Kim Gill was prominent and she stamped her authority on the game over the closing stages. Tech were eventually rewarded through Amy Williams for a close fought 3-2 win. Tech and Uni A sit six points clear of Hamilton Old Girls after they were beaten by Suburbs 1-0 in a tense match. Both sides struggled to get momentum in a scoreless first half and as the game looked destined to remain that way Jess Gilby-Todd drove into the circle and her shot was deflected into the Old Girls net for the only score of the game. Suburbs were hungrier for the win and a flat Old Girls performance saw them pay the ultimate price. They will need to be hungrier next week when they face University A.
Report by Vaughan Hilton