It was second against third in the women’s club competition as both the University Huskies and Taieri Tigers were seeking a win to keep them on the tail of the table-topping City Highlanders.
The first quarter was played almost entirely in the Taieri half, the Huskies being dominant.
It showed on the scoreboard coming into the end of the quarter, too, the Huskies up two goals through Meg Smith and Grace Godfrey.
The Huskies carried the momentum into the second quarter as Taieri was unable to clear the ball from its half.
The Huskies extended their lead after a nice deflection into the goal by Silvie Irwin from a penalty corner.
The Tigers’ first proper offensive set was thwarted by the efforts of goalkeeper Pippa Croft twice.
Right on halftime, Huskies’ Lucy Simpson had a shot on goal but was denied by Lucy Girran and the score remained 3-0 at the break.
The third quarter was a see-sawing affair.
The closest chance for either side was for the Tigers, a shot on goal hitting the frame and bouncing away.
The fourth quarter carried on from where the third had left off, including flowing attacks from both the Tigers and Huskies without any reward.
The Tigers had more penalty corners, but the goal that would start their comeback remained elusive.
Ultimately, the clock and the tenacious Huskies defence proved too much.
The Huskies’ 3-0 victory consolidated second place on the ladder.
In the first game of the day in the women’s competition, City retained the Challenge Shield 4-0 over a gallant Kings United who only trailed by a goal until the final 10 minutes of the match.
The Highlanders scorers were Morgan Forrester, who scored two, and Jordan Cunningham and Tegan Buchanan.
Momona beat University Stingrays 1-0 thanks to a goal from Neve Mclean.
University Blue Whales played Kings United on Friday night in the men’s division. It proved a tight match, the Blue Whales taking the spoils 3-2. The students’ scorers were Luke Buxton, Ollie Schnauer and Jakob Bell-Kake, with Kings’ Charles Darling and Dylan Thomas getting on the board.
For the Blue Whales, it was a double-header as they lined up against the Alligators on Saturday, again winning 3-2. Bell-Kake and Schnauer scored again and there was a goal for George Wood. Opeti Tuimana and Hugh Jenkins scored for Albany.
The Tuatara beat University Black Panthers 5-1 in the other men’s game.
Taieri scored through a double to Jarrod Casey and there were also goals for Hamish Church, Patrick Ward and Jeremy Smallridge. For the students, Sam Taylor scored its goal.
- Jack Ward
