TARANAKI HOCKEY
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5 September 2005

Men's Major Championship 2nd Round

Stratford and Te Kiri continued their march towards a re-match of the minor premiership final, when they both put away the Central Hockey League sides Tukapa and NPC. Stratford won 3-0 against Tukapa in Stratford, while Te Kiri overcame NPC at Devon Hotel Park in New Plymouth 3-1. In Stratford, Tukapa competed well with the minor premiership champions except where it mattered most, scoring goals. With Andy Osborne anchoring the defensive unit, Tukapa generated some good opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the game, but the front line was unable to convert. John Copestake at right wing was causing all sorts of problems for Stratford, but the final touch was missing. In the Stratford goal Alistair Lilley almost single handedly kept Stratford in the game. Tukapa also managed to contain the Stratford attack for much of the game, but the goal scoring abilities of Grant Boyde could not be completely nullified. On two occasions in the first half.he found that additional space in the circle and indecision by the goal keeper or defenders proved costly. Stratford then began to settle into their rhythm, and Justin Jordan was having a fine game both defensively and on attack overlapping at right half. His efforts were rewarded at a penalty corner midway through the second half, when he picked up a rebound and converted to give Stratford a 3 goal cushion./* * /In the game in New Plymouth it was Te Kiri that made the better start, putting considerable pressure on the NPC defence in the first 10 minutes. A number of scoring opportunities went begging, before Rhys Armstrong dribbled into the circle from right wing and beat the goal keeper with a reverse stick flick between his pads. NPC settled into their game and made good use of space through the midfield. Both sides spent the balance of the half turning over each others attacks with opportunities going begging at both ends of the pitch. Te Kiri went straight onto the attack in the second half when a loose pass was intercepted and the resulting passing movement ended in a penalty corner. Soon after Te Kiri forced another corner and Les Symes slotted the ball past the keeper to give the coastal side a 2-0 advantage. Despite not having Stephen Davison for this match, NPC struck back almost straight away, with an attack down the right and a cross to the centre spot finding Andy Gunson who made no mistake. .The game really started to open up in the latter part of the half, as NPC started to develop more go forward especially through Carl Marriner overlapping at right half. Ross Gatenby had a fine defensive game for Te Kiri and in partnership with Lloyd Morgan snuffed out many promising NPC moves. With about 10 minutes to go, two sharp passes from the Te Kiri midfield found Neil Vince on the left hand post and his deflection goal effectively sealed the match. These matches set up an intriguing finale to the season next week in Stratford.

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