Being a player down for most of the game did not stop University Blue from scoring a 2-0 win over top-of-the-table Albany in premier men's hockey on Saturday.
Both teams were missing key players, away playing for Southern in the National Hockey League in Wellington, but both still had strong line-ups.
University was down to 10 men when Damien Watson was sent off after only 10 minutes for taking his disagreement with the umpire too far for the umpire's liking.
With the game goalless at halftime, University stepped its game up, coming out of the break looking like the better team.
Two quick goals from University, one coming from captain Matt Johl, 10 minutes into the second half were the game changer, with Albany struggling to make it back into the game.
Aaron Farrell almost scored a third goal for University soon after but his shot just hit the corner of the goal. If it had gone in, it would have capped off a great game for Farrell, who was dangerous on attack for the entire game.
Albany lacked the energy to make a comeback and, when close to the goal, found it difficult to finish off the midfield's good work.
It will also be disappointed with its first-half performance. The side had five or six good opportunities to score, but its finishing skills let it down.
