Dalefield will stave off any prospect of relegation if they beat Victoria University in their Wellington premier division men's hockey match at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow afternoon.
Officially billed as a play-off for fifth and sixth in the six-team competition, the match takes on extra importance in that the losers could find themselves playing the top premier two side in a promotion-relegation fixture further down the track.
Dalefield and University have met three times this season, University winning the first two clashes, 5-3 and 5-1, and Dalefield the third 5-1.
Missing from the Dalefield line-up tomorrow will be player-coach Willie Schaefer, who has another commitment, but he thinks that could be a good omen, based on the fact they beat Northern United 3-2 last Sunday as he watched from the sidelines. Schaefer was impressed by Dalefield's all-round efficiency in that game and says if they repeat that effort they will outgun University.
"It's the old story, if we play well we will probably win quite easily but if we drop our standards we'll end up second," he said.
