14 March 2007
The New Zealand Defence Force over-30s touch team showed their strength at the weekend, coming third in the New Zealand Nationals Masters held at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium.
The NZDF team got off to a slow start on the first day of the tournament , Thursday 8 March, losing 5-3 to Counties Manukau and 5-3 to Bay of Plenty, but went on to win their game against Waikato 6-3.
By Friday the team had found their stride and won both their games – 5-3 against North Harbour and 9-4 against Southland.
Team Captain Staff Sergeant Greg Mildon said “The team was quietly confident going into the semi-finals on Saturday against North Harbour. It was a tough game which we won 6-4. We then had to face Counties Manukau in the semi-final.”
“Our team played its second match against Counties in front of a crowd of about 500. By half time the score was drawn at 3-3. Counties Manukau eventually won the game 5-4 to take their place in the final against Bay of Plenty.”
“As a result of a tough encounter with NZDF, Counties struggled to match Bay of Plenty’s performance in the final which saw BOP convincingly beat Counties Manukau 5-2,” said Staff Sergeant Mildon.
“Overall, NZDF men’s over 30s finished the third best team in the country. After finishing second place in 2006, this confirms NZDF’s position as one of the top placed touch teams in New Zealand,” he said.
The NZ Touch Nationals are organised annually by Touch New Zealand. It is the major representative event for NZ Touch and is open to all provincial teams, as well as teams from the NZDF and New Zealand Police.
ENDS
For further information please contact Ally Clelland, Defence Public Relations 04 496 0273 or 021 569 130.
Photo, above right - Army Senior Sergeant Paul Hawkins dumping the ball for Senior Sergeant Jason Keno during the NZDF vs Bay of Plenty game.