Defensive stance not for Dalefield

Dalefield coach Mark Fenwick won't have his team taking a defensive stance in their Wellington premier division men's hockey match with Indians at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow.
With Indians sitting second on the competition table and having beaten Dalefield 10-3 and 8-3 in their two previous clashes this season, anything but a decisive Indians win would be a huge surprise.
However, so encouraged has Fenwick been by the sharply improved showings by Dalefield in their last couple of games he believes they can give even Indians something to think about.
A conviction strengthened by the knowledge that in both those two earlier games, Dalefield had actually outscored Indians in the second half.
"It's not a matter of us not being able to compete with them.
"It's more a matter of staying in touch through the early stages," Fenwick said.
"They come at you right from the word go so you can't afford a slow start."
The Dalefield coach said it would make no sense for his side to adopt negative tactics with an eye to keeping the scoreline to reasonable proportions.
"You don't learn anything by being negative.
"You have to back yourselves to score more goals than the opposition," he said.
The Dalefield women's team will also be in action at the National Hockey Stadium tomorrow.
They will play competition leaders Eastern Hutt and while this too might seem likely to be a one-sided affair on paper here too appearances could be deceiving
Eastern Hutt have beaten Dalefield twice this season but the scorelines of 4-3 and 4-2 indicate that Dalefield have been far from outclassed.