Missing three key players didn?t help Dalefield?s cause

Dalefield could be forgiven their 3-1 defeat by Harbour City-Tawa in a Wellington premier division men's hockey match played in Wellington on Monday night.
Missing three of their regular players in Jesse Workman, Marcus Emery and Matthew Tocker Dalefield were struggling for numbers to the point they were forced to play a specialist goalkeeper in the outfield.
And if that wasn't bad enough they also had the misfortune to lose Wellington under-21 rep Daniel Juno with injury during the course of the game.
Dalefield did, however, manage to score the first goal when Andy Ewington netted from a penalty corner and were still well in the game at halftime, at which stage the scores were level at 1-1.
All the scoring action in the sceond spell though came from Harbour City-Tawa who added two goals to their tally without reply to win by 3-1.
Dalefield coach Laurie Juno conceded his side were beaten by a better team on the night.
"We did waste two or three good scoring chances but, in the end, we got what we deserved,' he said. "The preparation was hardly ideal and it showed."
Fullback Toby White and Chris Mason, who played in the halves, were the standout players for Dalefield which faces a hectic schedule this coming weekend. They will be at home to Hutt on the Saturday and Victoria University on Sunday.
Juno said it was vital Dalefield came away with two wins if they were to keep in touch with the leaders on the competition table.