City back on form

CITY Highlanders got back to winning ways with a 41 victory over University A in senior women’s club hockey in Dunedin on Saturday.

City was looking to bounce back after losing its unbeaten streak last week, to Momona, and University was hoping to remain at the top of the pile after two good wins to start its season.

Right from the start it did not seem to be the same Huskies side that had won its opening games.

City started stronger and was on the board in the first five minutes through veteran striker Sarah Thomas, who in typical fashion threw her body around to deflect the ball in from close range.

City continued to press hard and Thomas was again involved as the lead doubled, this time driving along the baseline and playing provider to double the score.

Several more chances went begging and at once stage early on it seemed as though the girls in orange would run up a score.

Just before halftime, City struck again and it seemed the University side was just holding on, as Thomas added another assist to an impressive half, Milla de Bruin extending the lead.

Soon after the break, Highlanders added a fourth through some nice individual skill and finishing by Tegan Buchanan. This put the game to bed somewhat and University, despite trying hard, was not able to get going.

While they got better as the game went on, it took until midway through the fourth quarter for the Huskies to get a goal back. A nice set piece led to a deflection past the defence but it was too little, too late as they conceded their top spot on the table, suffering their first loss of 2019.

Lucy Simpson looked dangerous for the Huskies and keeper Claire McGregor was tidy while kept very busy by the City strikers.

In the other matches Kings got their season off the mark with a comeback 32 win over Uni B Rays, while Momona kept top spot and won their shield defence 10 against a challenging Taieri side. Points after week 3: Momona 12, Uni A and City 8, Taieri and Kings 4, Uni B 0.