Dalefield men's hockey coach Greg Clark is a realist.
The former Black Stick concedes his team won't be challenging for the Wellington premier division men's title this season - but that was never his prime objective when he took charge just before the 2012 season got under way.
Taking over a team missing three of their big guns from the previous season - Dane and Trent Lett and Jesse Workman - and containing a number of players new to the pressures of premier division play, Clark understood the need to set achievable targets rather than worry about end results.
So his stated aim right from stepping in to fill a vacancy which was threatening to end Dalefield's participation at the top level was for the team to consistently show improvement and while three matches have produced three losses he believes they have done exactly that.
"We've taken a step forward every time we have played and that's how we want it to be," Clark said.