Hockey: Defence seals Bream Bay win

Maungakaramea's Jane Thompson on the charge against WGHS during Saturday's 2-2 draw. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The "defence wins games" attitude has proven true for the Bream Bay United premier men's hockey team as they took down top-of-the-table Mangapai 3-1 by focusing on their own defence.

Bream Bay coach Vicki Gribble said "it was a nice first win of the season" for her side and admits they are playing the long game to develop throughout the season.

Bream Bay had been letting in an average of seven goals a game up until the match on Friday night but Gribble said her team had done a lot of work to cut down the number of times the opposition get into their defensive circle.

"We had been leaking goals so we've addressed all those weaknesses, and now it is just a matter of putting it into place consistently," Gribble said.

"We've had to go into the season looking at a long game, looking at the whole season, so it's about developing our young players," he added.

Bream Bay scored two goals in the first half through Michael Scott and Chad Cahalane before letting Mangapai get one back in the third quarter to ensure a tense finish.

Greg Jackman scored in the final quarter to give Bream Bay a buffer and help his side claim their first win of the season.

In the other premier men's match, Maungakaramea beat Springfield 4-1 in a scrappy battle on Saturday.

The premier women's grade saw big scores posted as top teams Old Girls and Springfield beat Hikurangi 10-0 and Mangapai 7-0 respectively. The third- and fourth-placed teams, Whangarei Girls' High School and Maungakaramea, battled it out to a 2-all draw.