Dalefield cement semi-final position

Dalefield cemented their position in the semi-finals of the Wellington premier division women's hockey competition with a 4-2 win over Karori at Clareville on Saturday.
Interestingly enough all six goals in the match came in an entertaining first half which saw both teams placing the emphasis on attack. Libby Noema netted twice for Dalefield with the other two goals coming from Brooke Taylor and Janeen Bruce. By comparison the first half of the second spell was something of a non-event with neither side able to take control and several scoring chances being wasted.
That was a disappointment for Dalefield coach Nigel Goodin, who said the halftime message to his team was to sustain the pressure through good, basic hockey.
"We went away from what we are doing and it became very scrappy, there wasn't enough intensity there," he said "Fortunately they (Karori) weren't any better than us, they went off the boil too."
A standout player for Dalefield was Norma Stein. She had a particularly high workrate on defence and twice saved almost certain goals by clearing the ball off the line.
Dalefield men's coach Mark Fenwick was pleased with the commitment shown by his side in their Wellington premier division match with Northern United, also played at Clareville.
Northern United won 5-1 but were made to work hard for their victory by a Dalefield side missing their inspirational skipper Rowan Yeo, who was sidelined by a hand injury. Fenwick believes their winning margin actually flattered Northern United with Dalefield mounting several good attacks and deserving more than the solitary goal, scored by Peter Sigvertsen after a well-timed cross from their player of the match, Willie Waitere.
"It was a really good game and we certainly did our bit," Fenwick said. Aside from Waitere, who used his speed with telling effect on several occasions, other Dalefield players to impress were Ben van Woerkom, Chris Mason, Greg Mason and Willie Schaefer.