Dalefield wary of Eastern Hutt after earlier humiliation

Third placed Eastern Hutt might be one place behind Dalefield on the competition table, but the latter have every reason to expect tough times from them, in their Wellington premier division women's hockey match, at Clareville, tomorrow.
The last occasion the two teams met, an Eastern Hutt side, spearheaded by international Ninewa Roberts, was in rampant form, winning 6-2 and being good value for it.
"They humiliated us then ? they opened us up all over the place," Dalefield coach Andy Wilson said. "Sure, we didn't play well, but they were impressive, no one could argue that."
Memories of that game don't however, stop Wilson from being optimistic that Dalefield will turn the tables tomorrow.
Pre-match preparation has centred on tightening their defence, and he has been pleased with the improvements made in that regard.
"We know what they can do, and it's up to us to stop them doing it," he said. "It's going to be a challenge, but there's no reason why we shouldn't cope."
The Dalefield men's team also has a big ask this weekend. Their Wellington premier division match is against Hutt, in Wellington, and with Hutt having beaten high?flying Indians last weekend, Dalefield will start the rank underdogs. This despite them having registered two wins and a draw in their last three games.
Coach Laurie Juno said his side was acutely aware of the need to avoid conceding penalty corners.
Hutt have a Dutch player, who is a fine exponent of the drag flick, and the more penalty corners there are, the greater the chance that he will have a big say in the final outcome.
"We have a couple of tricks up our sleeves to try and negate his influence, but really the big trick is to restrict the number of penalty corners to an absolute minimum," Juno said.