Today were Semi-Finals day.

The Vikings men team were really looking forward to this game, especially after we just beat Vic Uni HC last week for the first time this season and now we wanted to proof that this was not a random win.
Even that this was the Semi-Final, both teams had each a couple of crucial players that couldn’t be there, but the game was set and a certain excitement was felt throughout the stadium.
The Vikings men started focused and concentrated and went quick ahead with a 4:1 lead (10th minute). Over the next 5-10 minutes the Vic Uni men tried to get better into the game but the Vikings showed off again a really solid defence that minimised the chances of the opposition, 7:4 (17th minute). In the second part of the first half the Vic Uni goalkeeper started to make his presence felt by destroying again and again really good scoring opportunities created by the Vikings men. So the current Wellington Champion closed the gap goal by goal and at halftime it was a 11:11.
The second half started as the first finished, both teams fought tooth by tooth and up to 15:15 (43rd minute), each team still had a good chance to win. In this phase it felt like the Vikings should be able to pull away, the only reason it was still a draw was that the Vic Uni Goalkeeper had a stunner of a day and kept his team with great saves in play.
Going into the last 15 minutes of the game was a nail-biter in which the Vikings took a lead (16:15, 17:16, 19:17) and started to build on it. the Vikings played a very strong defence with a great goalie behind and in attack they seem to be able to find the right answers playing team handball. At the end there was a 23:19 on the scoreboard and the Vikings men won the Semifinal and qualifies directly for the Grand Final (20th September 2015).
Overall, the Vikings played a fantastic defence throughout the game and minimised the chances of the Vic Uni team and on the other side, in attack, they usually were able to great plenty of scoring opportunities. Unfortunately they were lacking in executing more efficiently and therefore only won by 4 goals in the end. Still lots of improvement that need to happen moving forward.
Well Done TEAM.
Vikings men: Petr; Daniel 7, Ben 5, Jack 3, Fred 3, Luke 2, Nino 2, Todd 1, Sam K

The game of the Vikings women against the Vic Uni women were cancelled due to the NZ U20 training camp this weekend.