FIVE Dalefield players have been named in Capital Hockey's men's team to contest the Challenge Shield in the 2015 Ford national league.
The Lett brothers, Dane and Trent, Nick Finlayson, Benedict van Woerkom and Rowan Yeo are part of an 18-man squad which will have their opening match against Central in Palmerston North on August 29. Then will come a home match at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington against Canterbury on September 5 and, from there, they will travel to Whangarei for the tournament phase, which will begin with a game against Southern on September 12.
Dalefield's outstanding 2015 season, which saw them win the Wellington premier division men's title for the first time, virtually guaranteed they would be strongly represented in the Capital line-up.
In fact, it would have been no surprise to see them have even greater representation as three other players, goalkeeper Fletcher Phillips, Tane Workman and Joseph Robertson, were also included in an extended squad selected last month. If club form was any guide, they must all have gone very close to making the national league side as well.
Capital coach Hemant Lala labelled his final selection as an "exciting group" who were looking forward to the challenge ahead. "I don't like the term rebuilding and I don't see our team being in that phase. We are a new group and we are playing to perform and compete," Lala said. "The aim, as I'm sure it will be for all teams, is to make the semifinals and reassess from there."
