University A held on for a tense 2 1 win over City Highlanders A in the premier women's competition on Saturday.
University had a dream start just 30 seconds into the game when Nicole Cant stretched out for a fantastic field goal.
City bounced back from that shock and applied pressure on through the midfield using speedster Sarah Thomas, but a clinical tackle by University defender Tory Vao stopped Thomas in her tracks.
The tactic eventually paid off when Thomas received the ball unmarked in space in the midfield and charged ahead to score the equaliser.
Pip Dingle made a lovely run and nearly had a solo goal but the University defence was calm and skilful and managed to clear the ball out, and the score remained 1 1 at halftime.
The second half was intense. City hit a high ball that only just missed, then applied lots of pressure. That led to penalty corners, which were well defended despite University missing regular goalie Ginny Wilson.
Towards the end of the game, despite much of the attack coming from City, University counterattacked and won a penalty corner. It was saved, but another led to a soft goal. Tory Vao's push went along the ground, through all the defenders and also the legs of the goalie.
At this point, with not long to go, the University defence sent a long, searching ball up to the far end, and the final whistle came.
In the other premier 1 game, Momona A beat Taieri A 4-0. In premier 2 games, West Taieri A and St Hilda's A drew 1-1 and City Highlanders A beat University B 2-1.
By Shirley Gillett.
