Summary of Premier Open Grade Games
Premier 1 Men
Victoria came within moments of holding powerful Hutt United to a draw on Saturday, conceding a goal to Sunny Schaller with just two seconds remaining to go down 2-1. The went ahead on the hour mark and, although United had the better of possession and territory, as well as missing a penalty stroke, Vic created chances of their own and came close to gaining a second. Their defence was also outstanding with Max Ruffell in goal making several fine saves.
Back at Clareville Dalefield made no race of it against Indians racking up a 9-1 bonus point win against the grade’s cellar-dwellers. Dane Lett scored three goals, which brought his season’s tally to 10.
Harbour City also came from a goal down to beat Northern United 4-2 for the second time this season. It was their sixth win and they lie fourth, just behind Naenae who had the bye.
Game summaries
Dalefield 9 (Dane Lett 3, Rowan Yeo 2, Jordan Cohen, Dylan Price, Hamish Finlayson, Michael Caldwell) Indians 1 (Josh Thuraisingham)
Harbour City 4 (Josh Symons 2, Luke Armstrong, Dane Hawkins) Northern United 2 (Kent Horsley, James Sales)
Hutt United 2 (Michael Jenness, Sunny Schaller) Victoria 1 (Rio Tuson)
Points after nine rounds
Dalefield 31, Hutt United 28*, Naenae 19*, Harbour City 18, Victoria 7, Northern United 7, Indians 6
* indicates a second round bye
Premier 1 Women
After last week’s low-scoring games there were 19 goals knocked in on Saturday as the top four teams all had wins. Dalefield led the way at Clareville, chalking up a 7-0 victory over Kapiti, with captain Katherine van Woerkom scoring three times.
On McDonald’s Newtown NHS No 2 Northern United scored early and went on to beat Karori 3-0, Hutt United scored a goal in each quarter to beat Victoria 4-1; while in the late game Harbour City won 3-1 against a determined Toa whose goal came with eight minutes remaining.
Game summaries
Dalefield 7 (Katherine van Woerkom 3, Morgan Percy 2, Felicity Reidy, Brigette Mossman) Kapiti 0
Hutt United 4 (Lucy Cooper, Esther Chan, Grace Seeley, Kat Winter) Victoria 1 (Anna Connelly)
Northern United 3 (Tessa Noakes, Jessie Manning, Emma Brokenshire) Karori 0
Harbour City 3 (Kelsey Stevens, Victoria O’Keeffe, Molly Sheffield) Toa 1 (Ashleigh Morgan)
Points after nine rounds:
Dalefield 29, Hutt United 26, Harbour City 25, Northern United 13, Victoria 9, Kapiti 8, Toa 5, Karori 3
Premier 2 Men
The three leading teams all won on Sunday so the top of the table remains largely unchanged. Hutt United beat Northern United 3-1, Tawa beat Harbour City 4-1 and Upper Hutt beat Naenae 3-1 at Maidstone Park, with Victoria having the bye.
Points after nine rounds
Hutt United 24, Tawa 22, Upper Hutt 19, Harbour City 14, Northern United 10, Naenae 9, Victoria 9
Premier 2 Women
Runaway leaders Kapiti and Hutt United both had wins, with Kapiti beating Upper Hutt 6-2 at Maidstone Park and Hutt United just nudging out Harbour City 1-0. Victoria 2 and Victoria 3 drew 1-1 in their mid-table clash.
Points after nine rounds
Kapiti 23, Hutt United 21, Victoria 2 11, Victoria 3 9, Upper Hutt 8, Harbour City 5
Premier 3 Men
Indians went ahead of Kapiti at the top of the table with a thrilling 6-5 win over Hutt United on NHS 3. Next on the same turf Kapiti could only draw 3-3 with Karori, while Victoria 3 beat Northern United 4-1 to move into second equal place. Victoria 4 did well to draw 1-1 with higher ranked Harbour City in the late game.
Points after nine rounds
Indians 19, Kapiti 17, Victoria 3 17, Harbour City 12, Northern United 11, Karori 11, Hutt United 7, Victoria 4 5
Premier 3 Women
The top three teams had wins on Saturday with Kapiti 4 beating Victoria 4-1 on Mazengarb Reserve, Northern United beating Harbour City 4-1 at NHS 3 and Hutt United defeating Kapiti 3 at Fraser Park. Upper Hutt had the bye and they remain in the top four.
Points after nine rounds
Kapiti 4 23, Northern United 23, Hutt United 17, Upper Hutt 16, Harbour City 12, Kapiti 3 10, Victoria 4.
Report by Todd Foster
