Hockey: Penalties take away victory

The final against North Harbour at the National Masters tournament in was in Napier on Saturday.

Victims of one of the biggest turn arounds in Hawke's Bay sport to date this year.

That's the only way to describe Hawke's Bay's 40-plus men's hockey team. They went into Saturday's final against North Harbour at the National Masters tournament in Napier with five wins from as many games and with a goals for and against count of 33 and 3 including a 6-0 win on Wednesday against Harbour.

They lost the final 2-1 in a penalty shootout after the score was 2-all at the end of regulation time.

"We didn't capitalise on our chances and we weren't as clinical as we were earlier in the week," player-coach Graeme Findlay said afterwards.

"At the same time, we take our hats off to Harbour. They had 11 players able to walk by the final whistle so they gutsed it out well."

Harbour keeper, Julian Dapena, a former NHL player, was superb.

Hawke's Bay led 1-0 at halftime after a goal from Nick Cornwall.

Harbour scored from a penalty corner and then a field goal during the first 15 minutes of the second half. Double Olympian Greg Nicol tied the game up with a field goal with three minutes of play remaining on the clock.

Nicol scored the Bay's only goal in the shootout.

"Goals which went in earlier in the week were missing by two or three centimetres ... that's hockey," Findlay lamented.

The hosts were guilty of playing too narrow at times and trying to get the ball to Nicol when he was heavily marked. Findlay said his troops lost some structure when New Zealand Masters defender Steve Shepherd was forced from the turf with an injury.

Hawke's Bay hockey stalwart, former New Zealand men's manager Neil Edmundson, described the tournament as "one of what could have been for Bay teams."

In addition to the 40-plus men winning silver the highly fancied Hawke's Bay 50-plus men and 40-plus women's teams finished fourth.