Hawke’s Bay win first-up hockey match in the snow

The snowy scene in Dunedin on Sunday. Down the road, the Hawke's Bay Under 18 men's hockey match went ahead - a first-time contact with snow for most of the players. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Two Hawke’s Bay age-group hockey teams have made big starts to their national Under 18 tournaments – one of them even winning in the snow.

Both the men’s team (in Dunedin) and the women’s team (in Auckland) ended pool play today unbeaten, and well-placed to tackle cross-pool play on Thursday as the countdown starts towards the finals on Saturday.

It was the chilliest of starts for the boys’ team, opening their tournament in Dunedin with a 3-1 win over the North Harbour Second XI on Sunday.

Team coach Sam Chatfield said the match began in sunny weather but that soon turned “black” - and remarkably, all the goals were scored in the second half, at the end of which the day’s remaining matches were postponed until later in the week.

Chatfield said only one of the boys had had some experience of snow in Taupō, but the novelty was an “awesome experience” and the boys showed “awesome resilience.”

The northern side scored first, from a penalty corner in the 45th minute. It was the co-captains who capitalised on the work - William Knowles for Hawke’s Bay replying almost instantly, with the win hammered home with a brace to captain Callum O’Keeffe in the 57th and 59th minutes.

The weather didn’t disrupt the Hawke’s Bay schedule, with the team going on to score two field goals - to Christopher Deed and then another to Knowles - in the first 20 minutes of a Monday evening match against Thames Valley, won 2-0. They are scheduled to play Waikato this afternoon in the last match before cross-pool play.

Today, O’Keeffe (20th minute) and Knowles (33 mins) scored again to give their side a 2-1 lead over Waikato, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw after a Waikato equaliser in the 55th.

Meanwhile, the girls’ team claimed a third win from three games when they came from 0-1 down to beat Northland 4-1 today, starting with a 31st-minute goal to captain Greer Findlay, sister of Black Sticks World Cup representative Sean Findlay.

Emma Johnson followed soon afterwards and Emily Brun scored in the 47th and 55th minutes.

Hawke’s Bay started on Sunday with a 4-0 win, also over a North Harbour Second XI, with three goals between the 41st and 48th minutes to Greer – two from the field and one from a penalty stroke – followed by a Brun field goal just another five minutes later.

On Monday they beat South Canterbury 8-0 with three goals to Gloria Allen, two each to Brun and Emma Johnson, and one to Anania Tamati.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.