Dalefield recovers composure after first half hammering

The concession of five goals in the last 25 minutes of the first half cost Dalefield dearly in their Wellington premier division men's hockey match with Harbour City-Tawa at Clareville on Saturday.
Hartbour City-Tawa won 7-2 but so sharp was the improvement made by Dalefield in the second spell that they actually "drew" the second half 1-1.
Dalefield coach Craig Nielsen was not unhappy at his side's overall performance against a Harbour City-Tawa side very similar to that which made the 2005 competition final.
The visitors opened the scoring early in the game and Dalefield drew level when Geoff Ewington netted from a penalty corner. But then came that 25-minute period when Harbour City-Tawa took control and at halftime Dalefield trailed 1-6.
"We struggled to combat their attack??they drew our defence out and made the most of their scoring chances," Nielsen said. " Their penalty corner work was outstanding, they were very efficient in that area.".
Nielsen said the message to Dalefield in the second half was to slow the game down and be more patient in building their attacks and he was delighted with the manner in which they responded to that challenge. Their goal in that spell was a spectacular one with Daniel Juno scoring after he and Jay Hodgkiss had combined in a passing movement which swept three-quarters of the field.
Both Juno and Hodgkiss had strong games for Dalefield as did Todd Sugrue and Andy Ewington.
The Dalefield women's team went down 4-3 to Hutt in their Wellington premier division match played in Wellington.
With a very restriced preparation this was always going to be a tough assignment for Dalefield but they competed well, especially in a second half which saw both teams manage just the one goal.
Highlight of the scoring action for Dalefield was a reverse stick goal scored by Ana Playle.