‘Humdinger’ expected in THC and YMP A men's match tonight

Under control: Jarrod Carter, of YMP A, has the ball under control as Jayden McKay, of LOB A, prepares to apply pressure. Picture by Liam Clayton

HOCKEY

AN EXPLOSIVE start to the weekend’s senior hockey can be expected when men’s teams THC and YMP A face off on the LJ Hooker Turf at Harry Barker Reserve at 6pm tonight.

It will be a humdinger, and will give both teams a good read on where they are at.

In the second match tonight, at 7.30pm, Gisborne Boys’ High School take on Lytton Old Boys A, and the students go into it with a confidence boost from their performance against LOB Masters last weekend.

This will be the sort of match that could stretch LOB A, if the students can catch them out.

The Masters and YMP B start the Saturday afternoon programme and they always enjoy a good game together.

The Masters could be in with a chance of a win and push the YMP seconds, but realistically YMP should get over the top of them. The match starts at midday.

The first of the senior women’s games tomorrow, at 1.45pm, features GMC Kowhai and YMP B. Kowhai have the chance to ram home the point they are the team to beat in the bottom four. It would be fair to expect them to remain undefeated.

YMP would need to play very well to get the result.

At 3.30pm, Te Aowera meet GMC Gold and the question there is: “Can TA get back-to-back wins against Gold?”

That question on its own should provide the right sort of motivation for the GMC Gold line-up to play that much harder.

The 5.15pm match between YMP A and Amber Dental Gisborne Girls’ High School looms as a tough ask for the students.

They performed well last weekend with a win and a draw, but the YMP A side are a completely different and more challenging proposition.

The students will need to be right on song for the full 70 minutes, and lift their play a notch or three, to make a real contest of it.

The final match of the weekend, at 7pm tomorrow, pits GMC Green against JNL Paikea, and both teams have key players away.

Kelsey Teneti, of the Green Machine, is away at the world waka ama sprint championships, and Amber Church, of Paikea, is at the Hockey World Cup as an umpire.

With two such influential players out, it could make the outcome more interesting.

However, GMC Green should still have too many big guns.