ABC was honoured to be the first club to play Warkworth at their new turf. Our Men's Division 1 Yellow team moved their game to Saturday to allow for a double header between the top teams in their respective grades.
The games were played in a good spirit and well supported by Warkworth and ABC fans.
Normally we post our detailed match reports only on our Facebook page but to mark the historical significance of this day - we have reproduced these in full, and also Warkworth's perspective.
Division 1 Men Yellow 1-1 v Warkworth
Match report from Geoff Clark a.k.a Sharky
History was made as the Div 1 team accepted the invitation to play Warkworth on their home pitch. The sidelines were crammed with spectators, the sun emerged after a morning of heavy rain and the scene was set for what was to become an enthralling early afternoon game of hockey.
Down to 14 from our normal 16 on the card you would have the felt the odds were against us as we took on last years finalists.
The team got their heads and hearts into into from the first whistle and played some great attacking hockey. While the defence held strong against some athletic goal attempts from a very determined Warkworth attacking unit. Our chances the cleaner. It took a brilliantly executed corner combination to break the deadlock thanks to Dale Trott. This lifted the tails as we continued to dominate and stay in the hunt for that decisive finishing blow. However Warkworth kept knocking on the door and their only clear chance in Q4 was put away. They had to work very hard for their goal denied numerously by yet another solid game in goal by Theo. Excellent goalkeeping is a common theme in this grade that is well worth a watch. More solid performances by Leo and Xavier. A massive shout out to the guys that filled in last minute (Oscar Dorbeck, Vincent Van Der Vegte and Nick Sparg).
The afternoon wrapped up with some great Warkworth hospitality. The unveiling of the “home game” shield and the chance to mingle with a great bunch of guys that we consistently draw with!!
If you get the chance to play there. Take it. It’s well worth the effort.
Division 2 Women 0-4 v Warkworth
Match report by Ngaio Merrick
D2 Ladies ROAD TRIP to the new fields at Warkworth today - for a sunny, bright game. Our first quarter was - in the words of coach Tobin Blathwayt - somewhat lacklustre and we were one goal down. After our quarter time talk, we rocked the second quarter with some stunning hockey and shut them out of goal scoring. The third quarter is not a quarter we would like to repeat and we let them have three goals - one from a stroke, one from a PC and another. Again the quarter time talk worked because the fourth quarter we had more possession than Warkworth, ran like demons, defended like Ironmen and held them out of our goal but were unable to put any of our attempts into the back of the net.
POD unanimously was Daina Brazier who saved nearly as many goals as Angie and showed her baseball skills intercepting high balls on many occasions. Hard work and grit from the team as a whole with special mentions to Crystal, Chris and Ruby for solid games, to Rachel for putting both herself and peanut on the line, to Stacey for driving up to support us with her ABC Beanie and winning smile, to Tobin for his coaching and encouragement and a welcome to Olivia for her first game with us.
We didn't win (not even technically!) but we had a heap of fun and only one green card. 😁
A drink in the rugby club at a table we shared with the Warkworth team was a lovely end to our road trip.
Match report from Warkworth Hockey Club
What better way to spend your Saturday!!
Thank you very much to ABC Hockey Club - North Harbour for venturing north. An absolute stunner it turned out to be. The rain cleared, the crowd flooded in and both games went off without a hitch.
The men had a 1-1 draw and the woman took out a 4-0 win.
A big thank you to Bronwyn Robins, Neill Nixon and Marion Ellis for making the trip up to
umpire the games.
Well done both teams and cheers to the first of many home games! The boys will be back in 2 weeks time against Takapuna.
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