Back to basics for Dalefield

Dalefield are going back to basics in their Wellington premier division men's hockey match with Northern United at Clareville tomorrow.
Player-coach Willie Schaefer was frustrated at the number of simple errors that crept into their game when they were on the end of a 7-2 beating by Indians a fortnight ago and is determined that won't happen again.
Level 1-1 with Indians at halftime, Dalefield conceded a number of penalty corners in the second spell and national development squad member Matt L'Hullier, a drag flick expert, scored from six of them.
"Frankly, we were rubbish ... we knew what was likely to happen if we gave away PCs and we didn't deserve any better than what we got," Schaefer said. "We simply weren't disciplined enough, we made it too easy for them."
Remarkably Northern United, the defending champions, sit sixth and bottom of the premier division points table with Dalefield one place above them but as Schaefer is quick to point out the difference in ability between all six teams is so slight that places can change dramatically from week to week.
Schaefer expects Northern United to play their usual structured style of hockey and, as such, he is stressing the importance of Dalefield "manning up"on defence with the idea of restricting their space and time on the ball. "They like to get into a rhythm and we need to get in their faces and make it hard for them to string passes together."
Schaefer also wants Dalefield to place pressure on a United defence he believes can be penetrated by using the full width of the playing field and strikers Todd Gould and Jesse Workman are likely to play a big part. AP