Hockey
Victoria University showed why they are being touted as the team to beat in this season's Wellington premier division men's hockey competition when they scored an 8-1 win over Dalefield at Clareville on Saturday.
With surface water covering the pitch in many places the launching of attacks through a series of short passes was virtually a no-go but the slick Victoria University side still managed to get impressive flow into their game, often creating panic stations in the Dalefield defence by flicking high passes into open territory and having their forwards moving onto the ball at pace.
Two quick goals to Victoria University in the opening stanzas provided an early warning sign that this was going to be a hard day at the office for Dalefield and and while the home team battled valiantly they were always in catch-up mode from that point onwards. There was the odd occasion where they did trouble the visitors by attacking down the flanks but a Victoria University defence, well marshalled by ex-Dalefield player Trent Lett, invariably managed to clear before they got themselves into a scoring position.
In other premier division matches on Saturday, Hutt beat Indians 5-1 and Harbour City beat Northern United 4-3.Victoria University lead the competition table with 36 points, followed by Hutt 31, Harbour City 17, Indians 14, Northern United 11 and Dalefield 4.