Former local leads NZ team to success

Former Wairarapa College student Lynda West skippered New Zealand to success in the 35-40yrs age group at the international masters women's hockey tournament in Birmingham, England.
It was a remarkable victory for the Kiwis as they lost their opening two games, one of them to Australia who fate would have them meeting twice more, including the final.
West (nee Robinson) said the first loss to Australia, by 3-0, and a 2-1 defeat by England had simply made the New Zealanders more determined to get themselves back in the medal hunt.
"The scores didn't really reflect how well we had played, we probably created as many good scoring chances as the opposition but didn't take them," she said. "We knew we could do better and it was just a matter of retaining a positive mindset."
It speaks volumes for the character of the New Zealand team that they won their next four games on the trot, beating Wales 6-0, New Zealand 40's 2-0 and Australia 1-0, results good enough to earn a third meeting with their arch rivals across the Tasman in the grand final. And here again there was just the one goal in it, New Zealand winning 1-0.
West said the decider was as closely-contested as the score would indicate with New Zealand scoring the only goal of the game about midway through the second half.
"It was touch and go all the way, there was basically nothing between us," she said. "We always thought there would only be a goal in it, and fortunately we got the one that counted."
New Zealand's win continued a remarkable run of success at the international tournament for West who was also part of the Kiwi sides who won the same title in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
She was joined in this year's line-up by another former Wairarapa College student in Rachel Percy who, like West, played a key role in all matches. Both West and Percy now reside in Palmerston North.