Premier Men’s Hockey Team
AISC vs Howick Pakuranga @ Avondale College – 4pm Saturday 22nd April 2023 – AISC Club Day
Team List: Jainesh Sukha ©, Keshan Narsai ©, Shakeel Kanji, Deelan Patel, Jayden Dayha, Jaiden Gosha, Rahul Naicker, Devan Narsai, Prashant Patel, Miheer Patel, Preetesh Parsotam, Miten Patel, Joseph Yoon, Dipesh Dayha, Jayman Bhana, Hamish Greenwood, Arjun Pancha, Stephen Jenness.
As the sun started to go down on our Club Day, the 18 blokes of the Premier side stepped over the white line and prepared to take on the table topping HowPak team from East Auckland.
The rafters were full and the snags were burning as kick off rapidly approached.
Kick off…
The boys started well with some great defence leading to a counterattack that took us deep into enemy territory, but we just couldn’t quite get the outcome we needed. Back and forth we went.
Until disaster hit…HowPak, 1 nil up. PC given and they converted despite some unlucky deflections from Indians stick, their dragger tapped it in to give them the lead…but it didn’t last long.
Stephen ‘Juice’ Jenness. 254 international caps, 92 international goals (according to Wikipedia) and one of the deadliest strikers roaming the earth, still. Given half a chance, actually scratch that, given an eighth of a chance, he will bury it, and that’s what he did. In what will be considered the goal of the year by many, Juice ripped one right past the keeper’s helmet from the tightest of angles to near rip the netting off the goal and a goal that ripped the roof off Avondale College as the crowd and dugout went mad. What a goal they have just witnessed. 1 all.
Whilst Juice will get the plaudits, and rightly so, the teams link-up play, led by inspirational Captain Jainesh Sukha, returning after a 12 month sabbatical, was champagne hockey, and not that Lindauer rubbish. It was Moet.
The boys battled hard for the entire match and in the 3rd quarter, and just after Dev got a contentious green card a PC was given to HowPak which raised a few eyebrows to say the least. 1st one, saved, but it struck a foot. Retake…goes in. 2-1 HowPak with a quarter to go.
We were the dominant side in the 4th quarter showing heart, determination and a desire to win. We had chances with a few PC’s including one in the dying embers of the game, but again, we couldn’t quite find the outcome we needed and ultimately went down to the top team in the Auckland conference at the moment, nothing to be ashamed of but a game we will look back on with a lingering taste of “what if” in our mouths.
Next up, Intercity tips off. 3:30pm Saturday 29th May, Harbour 2 against the Bikkies. Huge game.
- Dylan Patel ‘Pete’