Ring-ins come up trumps for Dalefield

Dalefield showed character above the norm in drawing their Wellington premier division women's hockey match 4-4 with Victoria University in Wellington on Saturday,
Not only did they have to find replacements for the seven players who were missing because they were part of the Wairarapa under-17s team contesting a tournament in New Plymouth and Stratford but two of the goals scored by University came in dubious circumstances.
That Dalefield were able to field a full complement of players was in itself a victory of sorts for the side.
Five of the replacement players were making their debuts for Dalefield with four of them being of college age.
Coach Kim Henson said having so many newcomers did create minor problems with combinations but he was delighted with the way all his players responded to the challenge.
"Going into the game the hope was we would at least be competitive but as it happened we probably should have won," Henson said. "We got four goals but there could have been more, there were a few good scoring chances which went begging too."
Slow starts had been a problem for Dalefield in previous games but this time they could not have started better with Jesse Davies scoring a field goal within 45secs of the opening whistle.
And by halftime they had increased their lead to 2-0, Jesse Davies scoring again from a penalty corner.
The early stages of the second half saw University hit back with two goals and while Alice Davies scored from a penalty corner to keep Dalefield's nose in front at 3-2 it was anybody's game.
Then came the two goals to University which created justifiable frustration in the Dalefield camp.
The first went into the net at above the allowable height and the second came almost immediately after University had been awarded a somewhat questionable penalty corner.
So from being one goal up Dalefield suddenly found themselves one goal down and with their backs seemingly against the wall. But rather than allow the setbacks to have an adverse effect on them they dug deep and grabbed the draw when Karen James scored from a penalty corner to level things up at 4-4.
Coach Henson was quick to pay tribute to his team's fighting qualities after the concession of those two controversial goals.
"It was one of those situations where players could lose their cool and go to pieces but fortunately the girls took the opposite stance and really went at it,"he said.
Right half Jesse Davies and left inner Karen James were two of the stars for Dalefield while Olivia Pearce had a busy and constructive game at centre half.
In other premier division matches played on Saturday Hutt beat Harbour-City Tawa 4-1 and Indians defeated Eastern Hutt 5-2.
Dalefield and Indians now share the lead with 16pts apiece although Dalefield has the number one spot on goal difference. They have scored 20 goals and conceded 13 while Indians have scored 17 goals and conceded 11.
Hutt holds third place on 11pts while Eastern Hutt and Victoria University have 10pts and Harbour-City Tawa have five.