Taieri pushed by Stingrays but takes crucial win
TAIERI perhaps made harder work of it than it expected, but it got the crucial win in the women’s premier hockey competition on Saturday.
Sitting in fourth position, the Tigers need to win most, if not all, of their finalround matches to move up the table.
Against lastplaced Uni was the best way to start with a 31 win.
The first half was not the best we have seen this season, as neither side was able to increase its pace of play without unforced errors creeping in.
What resulted was a battle for the middle of the field, as the short ball became king and move ment up the field needed to be in stages rather than the sweeping motions that can come in the top contests.
Taieri was able to earn a penalty corner midway through the half and Louise Nicolson completed the strike from the top of the circle.
After another holding period, a second penalty corner led to Chantelle Murrell doubling the lead for the Tigers.
The halftime discussions would have been about lifting the energy levels and the pace of the game.
The Stingrays certainly took this to heart, as they came out a completely different team and put Taieri under immense early pressure, which eventually told as Felicity Leov was able to halve the lead and pull the Uni girls back into the contest.
However, their dominance was shortlived as Taieri was able to regain the momentum and push back out to a twogoal lead through midfielder Katie Hunt.
This is where the score stayed and Taieri was able to grab the points.
In the other matches, competition leader City retained its unbeaten record 21 over Momona, while University A eased past a developing Kings United side 30.
The competition now goes into a break for the university holidays before resuming in July.