Wairarapa are through to the semi-finals at the national under-18 girls hockey tournament in Dunedin.
They earned the right to play favourites Auckland in the semis late this afternoon when beating Southland 2-1 in a hard-fought quarter-final game yesterday.
Wairarapa coach Richard Fenwick was delighted with the resolve shown by his side
who were still feeling the effects of their win over previously unbeaten Northland in a crucial pool game the day before.
"The energy levels were pretty well drained by the end of the game?..they were running on empty then," he said.
Fenwick also paid tribute to Southland who played an unorthdox style of hockey based around short passing. "They were hard to defend, it took some time before we got to grips with what they were doing," he said.
Wendy Hull scored both the Wairarapa goals and along with Taasha Henson and Laura Crawford were the standout players for their side.
Wairarapa placed fourth at the nationals last year and Fenwick is very optimistic they can go further in 2006.
"We've got to the stage now where everything is a bonus and the attitude is spot on," he said.
