Wairarapa pulled off a stunning upset in their opening match at the national under-18 girls hockey tournament in Wellington, beating the hotly favoured Canterbury combination 2-1.
The game was scoreless at halftime and Wairarapa started the second half strongly, scoring two goals from penalty corners within the first 10 minutes of
that spell. Elizabeth Perry and Kate Jackson were the scorers.
Cant1erbury struck back with a field goal with 10 minutes of play remaining but they were unable to secure the equaliser through solid Wairarapa defence.
To say Wairarapa had a tough first day would be an gross understatement with their second opponent being another of the tournament favourites in Auckland. The latter dominated proceedings from go to whoa to win 6-0, five of the goals coming from well-executed penalty corners.
The Wairarapa under-18 boys team had an impressive 3-1 win over Tauranga in pool play at their national tournament in Dunedin.
The match was played in snow and Wairarapa adapted quickly to the conditions, taking an early lead through a Rowan Yeo goal. However, a slight lapse in defence saw Tauranga level up and go to the halftime break at 1-1.
The second spell produced two goals, both of them to Wairarapa. The first came when Jordan Sinclair picked up a rebound from the opposition goalie and the second to Yeo after good work by Andy Ewington.
Standout players for Wairarapa were Kurt Goodin, Jay Hodgkiss, Matthew Tocker and Cole Aplin.
