Hockeygirls into semis

A goal in the last two minutes took Wairarapa College into the semi-finals of New Zealand's top secondary schoolgirls hockey tournament, the Federation Cup, in Whangarei yesterday.
Up against a determined Westlake Girls High School (Auckland) side, Wairarapa College dominated the early stages of the game but it was Westlake who scored first, netting from a penalty corner and maintaining their 1-0 advantage through until the break.
The second half was an evenly-contested affair played at pace with attacking movements often sweeping from one end of the field to the other.
Wairarapa College broke their goal drought eight minutes from fulltime when a penalty stroke was successfully converted and from there on it seemed penalty strokes would decide the outcome. However, sustained pressure on the Westlake goal in the dying minutes had its reward for Wairarapa College when they scored after a penalty corner had been deflected and then fired into the Westlake net.
Wairarapa College, which has yet to taste defeat in the 2005 season, were drawn to meet Tauranga Girls High Schools in today's semi-finals.