Whanganui Hockey teams kept a clean sheet

The Whanganui teams swept the weekend and both also kept a clean sheet with victories in their Hockey Manawatu divisions on Saturday at Gonville Domain.

Having to wait to get a home match in the fifth round of the competition, the Whanganui women picked up their first victory of the season with a 3-0 victory over winless Massey.

Having a big bench due to being a home fixture, Whanganui took a 1-0 lead into halftime courtesy of a Sophie Redmayne goal, then got scored in each of the remaining quarters through Maggie Symes and Redmayne again for her double.

Player-coach Colleen Baylis said they did miss a lot of shots in the first half, while still making a few simple errors.

"It took us a little while, the first half was a little hairy.

"I think we just put too much pressure on ourselves."

The halftime break served the purpose of calming the team down, with better execution in the second stanza to go get the victory they desperately needed to build confidence for the second round of games in Women's Premier.

"It's just a shame [when] it's a shift in momentum now, we've got two weeks off," said Baylis, as Whanganui have the first bye of each round, while the following Saturday is Queen's Birthday Weekend.

They will practice and perhaps look to arrange a friendly game with somebody over that time.

The win leaves Whanganui with a 1-1-2 record and moves them up to third on the five-team table, although well behind High School Hockey Club A and College A, who have both beaten the other three teams while drawing with each other.

Taking to Gonville Domain after the women, the Whanganui men trumped their score against likewise winless opposition, hammering HSHC B 7-0 to complete the first round of Men's Premier Reserve.

Having been playing rugby this season, Lee Moir returned to striker for his first game of Saturday hockey in 2019 and scored four goals.

"First game and he's already joint top of the goal scorers charts," said senior player Calum Wilbur

"Just a bit more clinical up front – he was a little selfish on the ball, but if the ball goes in the net, people don't complain too much.

"We were able to move the ball around, rather than being put under pressure."

Whanganui scored two goals in each of the first three quarters, with one more to polish the match off in the final period.

As well as Moir, Jacob Moorehouse, Tyler Nicholls, and James Craig added their names to the score card.

Wilbur said despite the scoreline and HSHC obviously being a lesser standard, the team opted not to experiment with different patterns of attack.

"The senior players took some longer breaks and gave the kids more game time, but we kept the structure."

Whanganui's fifth win from five games saw them move clear on top of the standings by five points, as second-place Marton HC was held to a 2-2 draw at home by Marist B.

They will play Marist B at Gonville this Saturday, in the return game from the 2-0 victory to start the season in April.

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The senior members of the Whanganui men's team were joined by four players from the women's side and a couple of local alumni as Whanganui Invitational played the Tiger Turf XI at Gonville on Sunday.

The Tiger Turf company did the refurbishment of the field at McDonald's Hockey Stadium, with the upgrade estimated to have cost just under $800,000.

In the all-star game to celebrate the official opening, Tiger Turf's team included former Black Sticks David Kosoof and Blair Hopping.

"It was a good, fun game, with some additional rules," said Calum Wilbur.

Players wearing wigs would receive two points for every goal they scored.

In the end, Tiger Turf won the match 9-7.

By Jared Smith
Whanganui Chronicle  21/5/19