Two wins and a narrow loss represented a pleasing return for the Wairarapa under-15 girls hockey team at a mini-tournament in Blenheim over the weekend.
First up, Wairarapa met the powerful Canterbury squad and, while they lost 1-0, coach Grant Brewster was delighted with their competitiveness.
''They [Canterbury] deserved to win but we kept them honest,'' Brewster said. ''We did have a couple of prime-scoring chances too. They had to work hard to keep us out.''
Against Nelson, the Wairarapa team started slowly and took most of the first half to warm to up. But some stern talking at the break had the desired effect and they dominated the second spell, winning 2-0.
Wairarapa's final match was against host side Marlborough and they always looked the better side, winning 4-1. Goalkeeper Lucy Terry, Rebecca Perry and Emily Jane all starred on defence for Wairarapa, while spearheading the attack were Megan Hull, Michael O'Connor and Amy James.
On the local front, it was back to earth for the Red Star team in the Wairarapa division one women's hockey competition. They started favourites against East Coast after beating competition leaders Dalefield but this time it was East Coast who held the upper hand, winning 3-1.
Justine Robertson scored twice for East Coast to put them ahead 2-0 at halftime and then Amy Chappell practically guaranteed them victory with a brilliant individual goal to make it 3-0. Red Star did pick up a consolation goal late in the second half. Featherston were too strong for Red Star White in the other premier division fixture, winning by 6-2 after leading 3-0 at half-time. Featherston's standout players were Tracey Donald, Melissa Bird and Catherine Smith. Their win pushed Featherston to the top of the points table. They now have 16 points, followed by Dalefield 15, East Coast 11, Red Star 10 and Red Star White 3.
Wairarapa girls win two, lose one
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