Taranaki under-13 and under-15 hockey sides have mixed starts

The under-15 boys’ Taranaki hockey team travelled to Palmerston North last weekend and started their mini-tournament campaign, notching up a result in every category. They opened the event with a 3-2 win over Wairarapa. They could have won by more with a number of opportunities gone begging. The following day a tough schedule saw them face Wellington and Manawatu with just two hours between matches. In the Wellington game, the Taranaki side created a number of opportunities but struggled to get the ball in the net. Wellington took their chances and won the match 6-0. The match against Manawatu was a classic and remained scoreless at half time. Taranaki came out of the break firing and were able to slip in two goals but both were answered by Manawatu. At the stroke of full time Taranaki were awarded a penalty corner. The ball was hit home but the goal was disallowed as it made contact with a Taranaki player’s foot, with the match ending in a 2-2 draw. ■ The under-15 girls’ team got to play as a unit for the first time last weekend. Though they were unable to pick up a win they were better for the experience. The girls showed some great skills against Wairarapa, with a quick goal first up from Kirsten Tarrant. Hawker’s Bay proved to be a little more challenging as they were able to run up a 5-0 win, with Manawatu beating the Taranaki side in their final game 2-0. ■ The under-13 girls’ Collier team had a good weekend at their minitournament at home in Stratford. On Saturday, Taranaki toppled Horowhenua 3-1 with goals from Ella Rogers, Jessie Hollard and Madeleine Kinnell. Their second match saw a lot of goals scored, with Hawke’s Bay taking down the home side 5-3 in a fast moving game. Goals from Lucy Atkinson, Kinnell and Jessica Frater proved to be too little to snag a second win. In their final match, Rogers scored a double and Chloe sampson added on to steer the Taranaki side past Manawatu. ■ The under-13 boys’ Hatch team travelled to Wanganui to open their season. Wanganui started off strongly slotting in four goals before half time and added two more later in the match to take a comfortable 6-0 win. Taranaki’s were much more composed for their second match against Wairarapa, which saw them score in the 12th minute through Bradley Hanser. Goals from Flynn Kempson, Wairarapa were able to take a 5-3 win. They were unable to steal a win against Horowhenua in their final match, which they lost 4-1.