Brown strike stuns previously unbeaten Lytton Old Boys Traktion

It was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man for Waituhi in a Poverty Bay Prem 1 men’s club hockey game at the weekend . . . and that man was Tegan Brown, who scored in a 1-0 win over LOB Traktion. He is pictured controlling the ball in front of LOB’s Patrick Ferry in a clash earlier in the season. Pictures by Paul Rickard

And last-gasp GMC Green goal denies Girls’ High.

Waituhi pulled off the boilover of the Poverty Bay club hockey season so far in hocking previously unbeaten Lytton Old Boys Traktion 1-0 at Harry Barker Reserve on Friday night.

“It was nil-all at halftime and the possession stakes were even between the two teams,” hockey commentator Tony Scragg said.

However, Waituhi “owned the third quarter and that’s when their goal came, courtesy of Tegan Brown”.

Scragg said the loss put LOB into a tougher situation to make the Prem 1 men’s final.

They play YMP A in their final Prem 1 points game on Saturday and to finish top and gain automatic entry to the final, they have to win by 10 goals.

Failure to do that, and that seems likely, they would face Waituhi again to decide the other finalists.

“What sort of confidence does that win on Friday night give Waituhi ahead of the playoffs,” Scragg asked. “I would say a lot,” he answered.

Another feature result of the weekend saw Prem 1 women’s leaders GMC Green fend off a gritty Gisborne Girls’ High School 1st XI 2-1 on the Hain Farming Turf.

“It literally was GMC hanging on in that game,” Scragg said.

It was nil-all going into the final quarter when GMC scored but Girls’ High replied almost straight away.

“With time up on the clock and a penalty corner to play out, the Green Machine scored to break the hearts of the Girls’ High team. It deserved to end in a one-all draw. It was a great game.”

There were some big scores in other matches.

Gisborne Boys’ High 1st XI warmed up for the Super 8 secondary schools tournament in Hamilton by handing out an 11-1 hiding to LOB Resene Masters in a Prem 2 men’s game on Thursday night.

“It was 2-1 in the first quarter and the Masters thought ‘we’re in this’,” Scragg said.

“Then the students turned on some fantastic hockey to race away.”

Seven goals to Halley as YMP make statement

Jack Fletcher and Ollie Egan scored hat-tricks and Austin Fergus a double.

Zarneo Baker saved the whitewash.

“We found the final scoreline quite a shock,” Masters team member Scragg said.

Toni Halley found the back of the net seven times  and Aisha Twigley scored a hat-trick as YMP B thrashed Te Aowera 12-0 in a Prem 2 women’s game.

“It was a statement from YMP that they will be a force in the women’s Prem 2 finale.”

Top-of-the-table GMC Kowhai posted a solid 3-0 win over PGG Wrightson Ngatapa in the other

Prem 2 clash.

“They are the team to beat,” Scragg said.

In the other Prem 1 women’s clash, unbeaten

YMP A accounted for Paikea 5-0 and trail GMC Green on differential by three on the table.

“It took YMP a while to get into their groove and get the scoring under way,” Scragg said. “But once they scored a couple, they were always going to score more.”

That included a hat-trick to Courtney Onekawa.

All  women’s divisions have one game left, then head into sudden-death semifinals.

The men also have one more game. The top teams from each division advance to their respective finals. The second and third-placed sides meet in knockout semifinals.

Poverty Bay Club Hockey Results

Prem 2 men: Gisborne Boys’ High 1st XI 11 (Jack Fletcher 3 Ollie Egan 3, Austin Fergus 2, Tom Fletcher, John Broad, Max Gaddum) LOB Masters 1 (Zarneo Baker).

Prem 1 men: Waituhi 1 (Tegan Brown) LOB Traktion 0.

Prem 2 women: GMC Kowhai 3 (Krystel Williams 2, Shannon Williams)  PGG Wrightson Ngatapa 0.

YMP B 12 (Toni Halley 7, Aisha Twigley 3, Jane Tureia, Ana Te Kani) Te Aowera 0.

Prem 1 women: GMC Green 2 (Jessie Kapene, Heni-Kamaia Thompson) Gisborne Girls’ High 1st XI 1 (Hine Brooking).

YMP A 5 (Courtney Onekawa 3, Phoebe Bint, Lucy McHugh) Paikea 0.