The Adelaide Vintage Reds were no match for Dunedin Penguins A yesterday, but Peter Boyle is not about to let that ruin his week in Dunedin.
The 56-year-old is in town to play ice hockey for the New Zealand Masters Games. His team lost 8-0 to the Penguins yesterday, in what he called a "forgettable match''.
But Boyle and his team-mates are still having a blast in Dunedin.
This is the fifth time he has competed at the games in Dunedin.
Boyle has not always played for the Adelaide team.
He once played for one of the Dunedin teams and has also done some netball umpiring in the past.
"It's a good event. It's really well run. The hospitality is awesome and Dunedin is a great place. We really enjoy it.''
Boyle is originally from England, but lived in Canada before moving to Australia as a 14 year old.
He started playing ice hockey when he was growing up in Canada, and still plays back home, albeit it in a competition with little contact, to limit injuries.
Boyle, the Adelaide Oval supply manager, and his wife Sue have worked the Masters Games into a holiday.
They spent five days in the North Island before coming to Dunedin at the start of the week, and will spend six days in Queenstown at the conclusion of the games tomorrow.
Boyle is roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of age in the Adelaide team.
The youngest player is 37-year-old Chris Taite, while there are three players over 65.
The team's highlight so far was a 3-2 win against Matt Damons on Thursday morning.
Yesterday's 8-0 drubbing by the competition favourite would have been much worse had the team not had a word with the Dunedin team, Boyle said.
"They could have scored a lot more goals. But Masters Games isn't about flogging everyone. Luckily enough after we had a chat with them, they came to the party. Because that could have been 14, 15 or 16 goals. Their whole team was probably equal to our youngest guy.''
The ice hockey competition wraps up at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at 3.30pm today.
