8th April 2008

After only two weeks of the Waikato Premier Men’s Hockey competition, the gap between the top and bottom sides seems to have closed considerably.
The Cook University men made harder work of downing a depleted Valley United side but created enough scoring opportunities to be a real threat when they settle on their midfield combinations.
Valley United dominated the opening stanza with Todd Bell scoring the opening goal. That sparked the students into action as they wrested away the visitors’ early advantage with a well worked free for Sandeep Puna to nail home the equaliser. Billy Emery gave Varsity the lead when scoring immediately after the restart and Mike Hill deftly reverse flicked in a third after some excellent interpassing from deep within the students half.
NZ Junior rep Raynesh Smith looked to give Varsity an unassailable lead when converting from a PC deflection on the stroke of half time.
Valley United pressured early in the second half and NZ Junior Ricky Clarke reduced the lead with the goal of the game. Smith restored the three goal advantage late in the game to give the students a flattering 5-2 victory.
James Hawley was the pick of the Varsity players but tended to emulate his team mates in turning over possession with opportunities to score beckoning. Clarke was the pick of the Valley side.

Hamilton Old Boys bounced back from their narrow loss last week to secure a character building 2-1 win over Suburbs Piako. They trailed early on after Suburbs Aaron Barnsdall deflected a well placed free hit from Ian Haste past Old Boys player of the day goal keeper Chris Kaan. Ashley Finn equalised for Old Boys from a PC rebound to give his side half time parity.
As the second half wore on both sides upped the tempo in an effort to score but all too often opportunities went begging. Suburbs looked to have regained some ascendancy but Kahn kept his goal intact throughout the half. Fraser Kilgour, in his second Premier game for his new club delighted Old Boys supporters with a last minute goal to win the game.

Avenue Storage University women found Te Awamutu sterner opposition than last week eventually prevailing 4-2. Gemma Overmire opened the scoring for Varsity with a PC deflection and Ashleigh Maguren converted a Cathryn Finlayson cross. It appeared the students would run away with the game but a quick break out saw Kelly Rowlingson peg one back just before the break. Findlayson and Lymarah Wharerau sealed the win, both with solo efforts, but Te Awamutu’s Jacky Forsyth gained scoreline respectability with a late goal.