Dalefield revival may be real deal

SAVE: Dalefield's Alex Sumenko-Bucknell (centre) tests out Northern United keeper Bart de Vries during Sunday's match at Clareville.PHOTOS/CHRIS KILFORD

WILLIE Schaefer is keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground.

The coach of the Marquis Dalefield men's hockey team could be excused for waxing lyrical over his side's stunning start to the 2015 season which sees them holding a four-point lead over their nearest rivals, Indians, in the Wellington premier division competition.

That's almost Ripley's Believe It or Not stuff from a team invariably languishing at, or at least near, the bottom of the points table. But while Schaefer is clearly delighted at their three wins, one draw record, he also understands there is a long way to go before they start thinking about picking up any silverware at the season's end.

"It's very early days yet and we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves," Schaefer told the Times-Age yesterday. "Obviously it's nice to be in front but the evenness of the competition is such that things can change pretty quickly within a couple of games. It's a great start but we've got to keep it going, that's the challenge."

The weekend just gone highlighted how results one day won't necessarily be any indication of what will happen the next. On Saturday, Dalefield met Victoria University at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington and a close tussle was anticipated between two sides at that stage sharing equal second place on the points table.

To say it didn't work out that way, though, would be a gross understatement as Dalefield dominated the action virtually from go to whoa to record a 12-3 victory.

It was a different story on Sunday. Then Dalefield were at home to bottom-of-the-table Northern United and after the goal-scoring spree of the previous day another big win looked in the offing. And when they went to halftime 3-0 up and added a fourth goal soon after the break it seemed just a matter of time before they would go on and pick up the bonus point for winning by five goals or more.

As it happened, however, a mix of Dalefield dropping their intensity and Northern United lifting their own performance saw the visitors gain a new lease of life, score the next three goals and threaten to at least come away with a draw. In the end Dalefield won 4-3 but there was a sense of nervousness amongst their large band of supporters as the second spell drew to a close.

This coming Saturday will see Dalefield host Indians at Clareville in a match starting at 2pm and the highly skilled Indians outfit will be quick to capitalise if Dalefield again fail to maintain the momentum throughout the match.