Stunning effort from U-15 reps

Wairarapa produced a stunning effort to place second at the national under-15 boys hockey tournament hosted by the North Harbour association at Albany stadium.
It was the highest placing achieved by Wairarapa at a national age group tourney for 25 years with their only two losses, the first in pool games and the second in the grand final, being to a powerful Auckland side which netted 50 goals in their pool matches while conceding none.
This from a team selected by coach Kim Henson after trials attracting just 17 players , which with 15 required for national tourney meant only two missed out..
Their pre-tournament form did suggest, however, that Wairarapa could make a strong showing at Albany.
A trip to Manawatu saw them take the honours at a tourney there after wins over Hawke's Bay (4-2), Taranaki (8-2) and Wellington (4-3) .
Then when the Wairarapa association itself staged a tourney at Clareville they continued on their winning way with victories over Manawatu (8-0), Wanganui (8-1) and Wellington (6-3), the latter successes coming despite two of their key players being injured and being replaced by more junior members of their squad.
Just four days before they were due to leave for the nationals though there was bad news for Wairarapa.
Their only goalie had an ankle injury in plaster, so two days before departure two replacement goalies were trialled and the decision was taken to play Dion Field there, despite him normally playing at fullback.
Coach Henson was 'pretty hopeful" of finishing in the top two of their pool at Albany and therefore making it through to the quarter-finals at least. "We had to have a good chance of winning three of our pool games and we knew that would be enough to make the top eight," he said. "It was just a matter of making it happen."
Wairarapa drew the bye when pool matches got under way on the Monday but later that day they came up with an encouraging 5-0 win over Thames Valley. Shane Hodgkiss scored two of the goals with others going to Ryan Pauling, Thomas Annear and Ben Poole.
Tuesday was always going to be a difficult day for Wairarapa as it was then that they played the two top-ranked teams in their pool, Auckland and Manawatu. And, what's more, they were both coming off byes before they played Wairarapa
Auckland was always seen as the most formidable opposition but no one quite expected them to wallop Wairarapa by a massive 8-0. "They dominated us all over the field?we just weren't in it," Henson said.
To Wairarapa's credit though the extent of that loss was forgotten when they met Manawatu who provided considerably stronger opposition than they had in pre-tournament play. They extended Wairarapa throughout the game but goals to Tom Harrison and Ben Poole produced a 2-1 win.
Wednesday saw Wairarapa up against Taranaki which had drawn with Manawatu the day before. The game was still well in the balance at 2-2 at halftime but Wairarapa lifted their effort in the second spell, piling on seven more goals and winning 9-3. Goal scorers were Ryan Pauling (3), Shane Hodgkiss (3), Thomas Annear (2) and Benedict van Woerkom.
Wairarapa were now through to the quarter-finals where they were drawn to play a North Harbour team which had one of the best defence systems in the event. At 0-0 at halftime it was still anybody's game and it was Wairarapa who came up with the only goal in the second half, Bryden Henson netting from a penalty corner.
Coach Henson believes that quarter-final match was one of the most exciting of the entire tournament with both teams defending superbly. " The marking was so tight and the tackling so committed ??..nobody would give an inch," he said.,
That win took Wairarapa into a semi-final against Canterbury and they got exactly the start they wanted, scoring the only two goals of the first half and having Canterbury in catch up mode. Ths second half saw Wairarapa score again and despite Canterbury making a late rally they were safely through to the final with a 3-2 win. Scorers were Shane Hodgkiss, Benedict van Woerkom and Thomas Annear.
Not surprisingly it was Auckland who were Wairarapa's opponent in the tournament decider and considering they had already beaten Wairarapa 8-0 the general expectations were it would again be one-way traffic. However, Wairarapa had other ideas and after conceding an early goal they equalised just before halftime when Tom Harrison scored
The second half too was a closely-contested affair with Auckland taking a 2-1 lead about 15 minutes into the spell and Wairarapa having what seemed a certain goal saved on the line. Two late goals allowed Auckland to increase their advantage to 4-1 but Wairarapa had done themselves proud.
Coach Henson said Wairarapa's main attribute at Albany had been their ability to work as a team rather to rely on individual brilliance for their success.
"We focussed on everyone doing their job well and that's what happened," he said. "It was a true team effort?you couldn't have asked for any more."
Henson is hopeful that Wairarapa's strong showing will see at least a couple of their players named in the New Zealand under-15 side which will be announced within the next few weeks,
"Our top players are right up there with the very best of their age group in the country and it will be disappointing if they don't get recognised," he said.