The team left for Tuakau on Sunday afternoon after a light training. We stayed in very comfortable accommodation about 15 minutes from the turf at Pukekohe.
We were playing in a 16 team tournament – the Eveline Hanker’s Memorial Tournament. Monday turned out to be a bitterly cold and wet day on the turf. We played two matches and were successful on the day with a 10-1 win over Fraser High School and a 4-0 win over Glenfield College. Goal scorers on the day included Emanae Ferguson (5), Jade Henley –Smith (3), Zoe Lapwood (3), Adelle Morton (2) & Josie Wilson. This set us up for a top 8 finish!
Tuesday saw us play Mt Roskil Grammar and we drew to them 1 all. This left us second in our pool on goal difference. Our cross pool quarter final was against Keri Keri High School who had won their pool. This was our best game of the tournament! We played to a game plan that frustrated the opposition but kept them scoreless in the first half. By effectively pressurising their play makers we kept them out of our goal and eventually we scored through Emanae three quarters of the way through the match. Our structure and patience had paid off, and to cap it off we were able to score a second goal (again through Emanae) in the last minute of the game to win 2-1! We had made the semi’s! On Thursday we came up against Baradene who were expected to make the final having dominated in all their matches to this point. It was a really tough game and the strength of their bench started to tell as we wearied. We were unable to score against them and they were able to score 4 goals in each half.
By Friday the week’s hockey was evident in our play. Our minds were still strong but our bodies were a little unco-operative. We played Mt Roskill in the 3rd/4th play off and although we had our chances we were not able to convert them all. We went to the break 3-1 down (goal scorer Tara Vishwanath) and they were able to score once more in the second half to make the final score 4-1.
The girls are to be commended on an excellent tournament both on and off the field. We developed further as a team, and as individuals, to finish a well-deserved 4th behind Wellington College, Baradene and Mt Roskil High School.
