Nelson’s senior hockey teams got their representative seasons off to the perfect start, thrashing Marlborough 9-0 in the men’s game and 4-0 in the women’s match.
The results mean Nelson retains the McCarthy Cup and the Ken Beach Cup, which are both up for grabs annually, while the men’s B team also got its hands on some silverware courtesy of a 2-1 win.
With only one turf operating and Capital trials ongoing, Nelson’s build up to the rep games had been minimal but Craig Brett, who is the women’s coach, says it was the perfect way to the start the campaign. “With only one turf we haven’t really been able to get these teams together so they went out with an hour’s preparation, so it was good to get some great results,” he says. “The men’s result was quite surprising though considering how high scoring it was.”
Last year the men’s side won a thrilling match 4-3, but were far too good in 2013, with Junior Black Stick Jared Jones and Pat O’Connor-Leys having starring roles in the rout. “Marlborough is usually a pretty hard side to play so from our point of view we were happy with both of the main results.
Returning player Ella Orr scored two goals in the women’s match while Hannah Climo and Bronie Edwards also got on the score sheet. “Bronie is only 16 but she’s got huge potential and played really well. Ella played really well too. She’s only just got back into the country and I think this was just her second game in six months.”
In Sunday’s other match, the women’s B team lost 4-0.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action this weekend playing against West Coast and Buller respectively.
