Dalefield goes for all-out

It will be all-out attack for Dalefield when they confront Northern United and Indians in Wellington premier division men's hockey matches this weekend.
With just one win from their 11 games, Dalefield are well out of contention for a semi-final spot and coach Craig Nielsen says the time has come to throw caution to the wind in their tactical approach.
And to that end he is considering making positional changes for the games against Northern United in Wellington tomorrow and Indians at Clareville on Sunday.
"Scoring goals is the main focus now and we just might give a few players who don't normally get the chance to show their skills in that area the opportunity to do so,"he said.
That putting the ball in the back of the net has been a problem for Dalefield is illustrated by statistics which show that their goal tally of 13 is 17 less than the next lowest scoring team, which just happens to be Indians.
Northern United are the current competition leaders but they could be vulnerable after taking an 8-2 whipping at the hands of fifth placed Harbour City-Tawa last weekend.
Nielsen isn't predicting a victory over them but considers an early goal could make matters interesting against opposition whose confidence could be at a low ebb.
"It would be nice to get one up and see what happens," he said. "If we can get them thinking about last weekend it's got to be a help to us."
Against Indians, Nielsen is hoping the home advantage will be a big assist to his side and that a vocal band of supporters will be their allies as well.
"They (Indians) are the sort of team which can take you apart if you let them dictate so we've got get in their faces and let them know we mean business," he said.
The Dalefield women continue their Wellington premier division programme with a match against Harbour ?City Tawa in Wellington tomorrow and they will then play Hutt at Clareville on Tuesday night.
A top four spot still beckons Dalefield who lie second equal on the competition table, even with Hutt and three points in arrears of Eastern Hutt who have played two more games.
Also in the hunt for semi-final positions are Indians (30pts) and Victoria University (29pts), both of whom have played one more game than Dalefield, with Harbour City-Tawa on 2pts being out of the reckoning.
What all this means is that Dalefield can immeasureably improve their top four chances if they can pick up maximum points against Harbour City-Tawa tomorrow while, conversely, a loss could spell disaster in that respect.