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28th August 2006

Bevan Sam stars as Old Boy’s provide upset Ecolab Suburbs Piako was surprisingly beaten in the Semi Final of the Waikato Premier Men’s hockey competition by Hamilton Old Boys 3-1 in the ABN AMRO-Craigs match of the day.
Old Boys mixture of youth and experience came of age with a dazzling display of end to end hockey but it was Suburbs BJ Watling that provided the opening goal after some excellent lead up work from deep within their own half. Both sides showed skill and enthusiasm but a series of uncharacteristic turnovers by Suburbs sparked Old Boy’s come back with Kevin Silver providing the equaliser.

Suburbs Coach Carl Sanders became increasingly frustrated by his side’s inability to play their trademark fast paced short passing game and some excellent marking by the Old Boys midfield forced them into passing miracle long balls which were easily cut off. Old Boys Coach Gary Rae continued to the ring changes and quietly encouraged his players to keep up their marking roles. Playing Suburbs at their own game it was Old Boys ability to string together a series of short passes that lead to captain Paul Rae converting a field goal for a 2-1 lead and then stun the vocal Suburbs supporters when he again scored to lead his side into the final with a deserved but hard fought 3-1 victory.

Star of the day was Old Boy’s goal keeper Bevan Sam who made numerous saves when Suburbs finally penetrated the Old Boys circle.

In the Women’s semi finals Fraser Tech turned on an impressive first half display against Intercity competition winners Te Awamutu and took the early lead through Hillcrest High School’s future star striker Rita Schooley. Michelle Whitehead provided the equaliser early into the second half as Te Awamutu’s experienced midfield provided turnover ball to gain territorial ascendancy. After a series of quick accurate passes from deep inside their own half Tosca Warren provided the winner for Te Awamutu with a crisply taken shot late in the half.

Robbie Matthews and Kath Drew were key players in Te Awamutu’s 2-1 win whilst Katie Cochram was outstanding in defence for Tech.

In the other men’s semi final The Cook University carried on from last week’s intercity victory with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Fraser Tech. Varsity striker Sam Broadbent opened the scoring tipping in on the far post but Tech immediately replied through a Rob Crozier goal. This sparked the students into a period of sustained pressure and they were eventually reward when Morice McMillan broke the deadlock. Tim Smith showed his class with a skilful PC conversion on the stroke of half time to give Varsity a comfortable and deserved lead. Some solid defensive work by Craig Armstrong in goal and poor shot selection by the University strikers prevented the score blowing out in the second half.

An excellent piece of umpiring advantage provided by teenage match official Bevan Nicol gave Varsity’s Ben Tanner the opportunity to deftly delay his shot to deceive Armstrong and complete the scoring.

In the other women’s semi final Avenue Storage University proved too strong for Southern United prevailing 5-1 with goals to Stacey Brannigan , Lymarah Wharerau 2, Charlotte McCullough, Fiona Burland and Nadine Henderson provided the consolation goal for Southern.

University Club had an excellent semi finals day and have eight teams featuring in next weeks finals across all grades.

For The Record
Prem Men Semi's
(1 v 4) Ecolab Suburbs Piako 1 (BJ Watling) Ham Old Boys 3 (Kevin Silver, Paul Rae 2)
(2 v 3) The Cook University 4 (Sam Broadbent, Morice McMillan, Tim Smith, Ben Tanner)
Fraser Tech 1 (Rob Crozier)

Prem Women Semi's
(1 v 4) Te Awamutu 2 (Michelle Whitehead, Tosca Warren) Fraser Tech 1 (Rita Schooley)
(2 v 3) Avenue Self Storage University 5 (Stacey Brannigan , Lymarah Wharerau 2, Charlotte McCullough, Fiona Burland) Southern United 1 (Nadine Henderson)

Reserve Men Semi's
(1 v 4)
New World University 1 St Pauls Boys 1st X1 0 (2 v 3) Goodfellas University 1 University won 4-2 on stokes Suburbs BJ 1

Reserve Women Semi's
(1 v 4) Te Awamutu Gold 2 Fraser Tech 0
(2 v 3) Southern United 0 University Reserve 1

Third Div Men Semi's
(1 v 4) Challenge Naylor Street University 4 Old Boys Dev 1
(2 v 3) Inkfish University 2 Pastits 4

Third Div Women Semi's
(1 v 4) Video Ezi University 3 Old Girls 1
(2 v 3) Ngaruawahia 5 FT Evergreens 2

Fourth Div Men Semi's
(1 v 4)
Admor Promotions University 7 Piopio B 2
(2 v 3) Te Awamutu B 1 Ecolab Suburbs Piako 3

Vaughan Hilton
027 311 9329 mailto:vaughan@free.net.nz or
mailto:midlandsmedia@free.net.nz