U18 boys hockey team justify No 1 seeding

Wairarapa justified their number one seeding when they won the national under-18 boys championship hockey tournament in Levin last weekend, and with it a place in that age group's premier national tournament in 2009.
It was an outstanding achievement from a Wairarapa side whose participation at the Levin event was under threat when a trial match planned for the beginning of this season had to be called off because of a shortage of interested players.
Coach Lance Hare recalls that only nine players turned up for the trial but their enthusiasm and skill levels were such that he and team manager, former Wairarapa-Bush rugby captain Bernard Lett, decided to press ahead with the idea of building numbers in the weeks ahead.
And that they did although a full muster was only managed a week out from the Levin event.
Even allowing for that, however, Hare was confident of Wairarapa making a bold bid for promotion to premier tournament status, something they had lost the previous season.
Seven of the opposition teams in their eight-game build-up were, in fact, in the throes of preparing for the premier tourney themselves and Wairarapa's record of six wins and two losses was indicative of their potential.
Among their notable victories were an 8-0 hiding of Manawatu and a win over Hawke's Bay which eventually placed fourth at the premier tournament.
It wasn't all beer and skittles for Wairarapa at Levin though. In round-robin play they started with a 1-1 draw with Canterbury B and a 4-2 win over North Harbour B but then came a 5-1 beating by Auckland B in what, on reflection, was their only disappointing performance there.
Coach Hare, however, was not too fazed by the magnitude of that loss, saying that while Auckland B had played well Wairarapa had been guilty of a few "brain explosions" and had conceded at least two soft goals. "We knew we were a lot better than that so it wasn't something to dwell over," he said.
The 7-0 win over Horowhenua and the 6-0 win over Wellington B in their two remaining round robin games certainly suggested Wairarapa were back on track and left them facing a second meeting with Auckland B to decide the overall champion.
This game was played in persistent rain which flooded the sidelines of the turf and, as Hare himself concedes, helped to hamper the speed and effectiveness of Auckland's speedy forwards.
Halftime arrived with the sides level pegging at 1-1 and they also managed a goal apiece in the second spell, meaning extra time under the golden goal format had to be played to decide a winner.
And it was there Wairarapa's attacking approach paid big dividends, the championship being sealed with a goal 10 minutes into extra time.
Hare was delighted with the committed approach of Wairarapa in the final, saying they deserved to turn the tables on Auckland B on this occasion.
"Their attitude was outstanding, they never flinched under the pressure of the occasion," he said
Several of the Wairarapa players had standout efforts during the week of competition.
The maturity and experience of players like skipper Dane Lett, Thomas Annear and Orin Lockyer was always obvious while the strike pair of Shane Hodgkiss and Tobyn Yeo gave Wairarapa as match sting up front as any of the other sides. Yeo with eight goals was their leading scorer.
Also impressive was the solid defence of players such as Isaac Berry, Sean Needham and Matt Crawford and the versatility of Hayden Sergeant, who played most positions on the field and acquitted himself well in all of them.
Many of the Wairarapa squad will not be available for under-18 competition next year and Hare, who intends to make himself available for the coaching job again, said the emphasis then would be on maintaining their premier tournament spot and re-building for the future.
"Two seasons on and we could be a serious contender for the premier title, that's the aim anyway," he said.
Meanwhile, the Wairarapa under-18 girls team did well to place eighth at their national premier tournament played in Palmerston North. Pool play saw them beat Marlborough 6-0 and beat Southland 2-1 and lose to Auckland 1-6, results which took them into the top eight where they lost to Canterbury 1-6, Manawatu 1-3 and, in the playoff for seventh and eighth, Otago 1-3.