St Matthews triumph

A GOAL in the first period of extra time gave St Matthew's Collegiate a 2-1 win over Wairarapa College in the grand final of the Wellington secondary schoolgirls premier division hockey competition played at Clareville on Wednesday evening.
In a closely-contested encounter which kept a big crowd entertained, St Matthew's scored after just 10 minutes through Emma Warren but Wairarapa College equalised soon after and it was still 1-1 at halftime.
The second spell saw both teams desperate to score the winning goal but despite chances being created the defensive units with St Matthew's goalkeeper Sarah Crofoot outstanding were equal to the task.
A 1-1 scoreline at fulltime then saw teams reduced to nine players for the first six minute period of golden goal extra time, meaning that play would end as soon as a goal was scored.
It was Charlotte Meo who became the heroine for St Matthew's, finding space in the Wairarapa College defence and using her pace to reach the goal circle and fire the ball into the back of the net.
It was the third time St Matthew's had won the Wellington title, following on from successes in 1999 and 2003.
Meanwhile, Featherston and Red Star are playing off in the final of the Wairarapa division one women's hockey competition at Clareville tomorrow, starting at 3pm.
Both teams are going into the game off the back of hard-fought semi-final wins, a hat-trick to Tracey Donald giving Featherston an exciting 3-2 victory over Dalefield Gold and Red Star being held to 0-0 at halftime before beating Wairarapa College seconds 2-0.
The playoff for third and fourth has already been played with Dalefield Gold beating the Wairarapa College seconds 5-3 while the fifth and six playoff between Dalefield Black and Dalefield Dazzlers ended in a 1-1 draw.