Dalefield women's hockey coach Nigel Goodin says his team should win their Wellington premier division match against Victoria University at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow.
Victoria University have beaten Dalefield twice already this season and sit one place in third above them on the competition table but Goodin says
those statistics don't tell the whole story.
In the first clash between the two sides Dalefield took an early lead and looked set for a win until a late rally by University got them home 4-2 and then in the second game Dalefield produced what Goodin ranks as their worst performance of the season and lost 1-2.
"They (University) have become our bogey team, not because of how well they play against us but how poorly we play against them," Goodin said.
"It's frustrating, we know we should beat them but more often than not they seem to have the edge on us."
Goodin wants Dalefield to show the same aggression and vigour tomorrow as they did in their 2-2 draw with second placed Indians in their last premier division match a fortnight ago.
"That's how we need to play for the rest of the season, we have get in the faces of the opposition from the word go and keep the pressure on all the way through," he said.
Goodin says such tactics were particularly important against teams like University whose main strength lies in the attacking flair of their forwards.
"Shutting their forwards down definitely has to be a priority for us, we can't afford to give them any time on the ball at all," he said.
The Dalefield men's team will also play Victoria University at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow and they too will be optimistic of a strong showing against opposition which struggled to beat them 3-1 at their last meeting.
