Another win to Mt Maunganui on Saturday elevated them to clear leaders on the women’s points table in the Midlands Intercity Hockey championship, courtesy of a 4-4 draw between the other front-runners University and Fraser Tech.  The Mount hosted Waiau Pa from Counties-Manukau at the Tauranga Hockey Centre and built their game slowly but steadily to lead 2-1 at the halftime interval with goals by Gemma Lucas and Holly Sprosen.  Three further goals gave Mt Maunganui a comfortable win of 5-1 over Waiau Pa, with Gemma Lucas adding a second to her tally and Katie Horan finishing off two penalty corners. Kate Savory controlled the Mount’s play with precision at centre-half, while the visitors’ goalie Lana White had a lot to do and performed well.

In the late game, Otumoetai women locked horns with Te Awamutu, and it looked as if it was going to be a scoreless first half until Otumoetai’s Chelsea Roper scored just before the siren. It took another 20 minutes of close play for Otumoetai to again find the goal-net, from energetic Dani Maunder. And that was the sum total of the goals in their 2-0 victory. Defender Nikki Harnett stood out for Otumoetai, and Waiau Pa’s Luisa Balsam was prominent for the losers.

In the men’s Intercity division, Otumoetai took a hammering from Pool leaders Hamilton Old Boys who ran away with the match 8-2. Early on, the score stood at 1-1, however that didn’t last long and the visitors scored at regular intervals to lead 5-1 by half time. The game lost a bit of intensity in the third quarter, but the goals flowed again in the final quarter as Hamilton Old Boys stamped their authority on the match. Garrick du Toit scored two of their goals and got the MVP award after the match. Otumoetai will see some irony in that, because du Toit played a few seasons for the Otumoetai club before he shifted to Hamilton for his tertiary studies. Zac Litchfield achieved a hat-trick for Hamilton, while Hugh Gilmer and Adrian Box scored consolation goals for Otumoetai.

Results

WOMEN:
Mt Maunganui 5 Waiau Pa 1, HT 2-1; Otumoetai 2 Te Awamutu 0, HT 1-0; Hamilton Old Girls 3 Suburbs 1; Fraser Tech 4 University 4; Rotorua Aces 3 Marist 1.

MEN POOL A:
Te Awamutu 7 BOP Indians 6; Collegians 7 Waiau Pa 0; University 3 Rotorua Aces 1; Tauranga Old Boys – the bye.

MEN POOL B:
Hamilton Old Boys 8 Otumoetai 2, HT 5-1; Suburbs 2 Kohekohe 2; Fraser Tech 3 Pukekohe Indians 2; Onewhero – the bye.

-Bill Webb