Hockey: Flying start for Varsity Blue in phase two

Nick Instone (University Blue) has the ball in his sights as Henry Inglis (Kings United) closes...
Nick Instone (University Blue) has the ball in his sights as Henry Inglis (Kings United) closes in during the premier men's hockey match at the McMillan Centre on Saturday. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Both the premier men's and premier women's competitions entered their second phase at the weekend.

The top four teams in each formed a premier 1 league, while the bottom two teams joined the top two premier reserve teams to form a premier 2 league.

University Blue got off to a flying start in the top men's grade with a 5-1 win over Kings United A.

Both teams looked to stamp some authority on the game early with good aggression and quick passing.

Kings took the lead when Rhuebyn Prattley received the ball on halfway, and dribbled half the field before smashing a shot with too much power for the keeper to stop.

After that, it was all downhill for Kings.

University quickly levelled the scores when Tim Instone hit a powerful reverse-stick shot from the middle of the circle into the goal.

The final result could have been worse for Kings had goalkeeper James Bishop not made crucial saves to give his side a chance at getting back in the game.

University was dominating possession, and towards the end of the half a goalmouth scramble saw the ball fall to Ollie Hopkinson, who smashed home to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

University went straight back on the attack in the second half and received a penalty corner.

The students produced a brilliant set play involving a fake shot followed by two passes, before Nick Instone performed a simple tap-in to make it 3-1.

Tom Gardiner put his body on the line to score University's fourth goal. He was one-on-one with the keeper and pushed the ball past him into the goal before being taken out by the keeper.

Tim Instone scored his second goal to complete the scoring just before fulltime.

Momona A remains the team to beat in the top women's league, after beating Taieri A 2-1.

Momona quickly settled into its game plan, passing the ball back and around the defence for defender Millie Cowan to play a long ball to one of the attackers.

While Momona had all the possession, Taieri defended well and restricted Momona's scoring opportunities.

Towards the end of the half, Momona had its first good chance when it received a penalty corner. Cowan played the ball to Tessa Jopp, who saw her shot blocked on the line by Taieri defender Vicky Clark-Joyce.

Momona had three more penalty corners in quick succession. The first two were blocked but it finally broke the deadlock with the third. Cowan played the ball to Sam Dungey, who smashed the ball into the goal from the edge of the circle to give her side the lead at halftime.

Momona wasted no time doubling its lead in the second half. A pass went across the goal to Maddie McLean, who calmly slotted the ball past the keeper.

After that, Momona settled back into its possession game and made it hard for Taieri to fight back.

Taieri got a late consolation goal when it received a stroke, which Holly Lang converted.

By David Beck. 

 

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