Dalefield anticipating stern Indians tussle

Dalefield is anticipating a stern tussle with Indians in their Wellington premier division women's hockey match at Clareville tomorrow.
Which is hardly surprising when you consider that five of the Dalefield squad are unavailable for this particular game and that Indians came within just one goal of upsetting defending champions Eastern Hutt last weekend.
Nevertheless Dalefield coach Nigel Goodin still believes his side can build on the good start they made themselves last Saturday when they opened their 2009 campaign with a 3-0 victory over Hutt.
"Having so many out is a blow but's not the end of the world," Goodin said. "We see depth as one of our strengths and this is the chance to prove it."
Goodin sees positive vibes coming too from the return of experienced campaigners Jodi Graham, Tania Scott and Kelly Govan as temporary replacements, all of them being players with an aggressive no-nonsense approach.
"Having them around will be good for the young ones, they will lead by example," he said.
Goodin was pleased with most aspects of the Dalefield performance last weekend although he readily concedes their dominance of territory and possession should have produced more than three goals.
"We were continuously getting the ball into the circle but the finishing work wasn't always up to scratch and that's something we need to work on," he said. "It's more a matter of getting the communication right than anything else."
Goodin also wants his team to show more alertness when penalties are awarded them. Under the new "tap and go" rules speed is of the essence with the emphasis being on catching the opposition off guard with swift movement of the ball.
"The whole idea is make the game faster and I guess it's going to take a little while for teams to take advantage of the extra attacking opportunities it provides," Goodin said. "We weren't too bad last weekend but we can get a whole lot better."
The Dalefield men's team kicked off their 2009 Wellington premier division programme with a 12-2 loss to defending champions Hutt last weekend and they also play Indians at Clareville tomorrow.
Coach Mark Fenwick saw plenty of the action himself against Hutt as he was wearing the goalkeeping pads but despite the final scoreline he was able to find plusses from an effort which included going to the halftime break only 3-1 in arrears.
"It was always going to be a tough start to the season for a young side and, quite honestly, we didn't do too badly," Fenwick said. "They (Hutt) were too slick and too skilful in the end but we stuck at it all the way through, we never gave up."
Fenwick expects the return of Willie Waitere at striker to strengthen Dalefield at the attacking end tomorrow but he admits Dalefield will need to be more decisive through the midfield than they were last weekend if his skills are to be fully utilised.
"We were too slow moving the ball from defence to attack, we have to have greater urgency in that respect," he said.
"And we need to be more accurate too, we can't afford to be giving ball away at this level.
"You generally get caned when that happens."