Hockey: Weekend from hell for winless Northland

Northland men's player Alex Day controls the ball at the Whangarei Hockey Centre on Saturday, during their 5-2 loss to North Harbour. Photo / Tania Newman

The Northland men's hockey team have had a weekend to forget, going winless in their first two matches of the National Hockey League.

Goals to James Watene and Aidan Rintala were not enough for the Northland men's hockey team, going down 5-2 to a Black Stick stacked North Harbour team in Whangarei.

Yesterday, Northland were taught a lesson by Auckland as the big city players romped home 8-1, with Northland's sole goal coming from the stick of Sean Laidlaw.

A courageous defensive effort was seen by the Northland men in wet and windy conditions as they conceded only one goal from general play, with the others all coming from penalty corners.

It was a steady effort from the home side on Saturday but North Harbour's talent shone through despite the conditions - pretty much scoring one goal a quarter, except for the final.

Northland's goalkeeper Adam Rafferty put in a superb effort, saving several goals throughout the match as his team were constantly put under pressure.

The signs had looked good early on as Northland pressed from the start, but a penalty stroke was awarded at the other end as North Harbour picked up the early 1-0 lead.

North Harbour's second goal came at a time when Northland had been reduced to nine players, with yellow cards dished out to Chad Chahalane and Zach Staples.

Taking a 2-0 lead into the half, it was Northland who came out firing from the break and creating several chances early - but again failing to put them away.

Harbour picked up their third goal off another penalty corner, as a bit of frustration began to show toward the end of the third quarter.

The fourth goal also came from a penalty corner before Northland's Watene put away one for the home team off a loose ball in front of the goal.

Harbour's fifth goal was their only one from general play, with a tiring Northland defence starting to falter after chasing Harbour from end-to-end on several occasions.

Rintala's goal came late in the game as Northland secured a rare penalty corner and managed to convert the opportunity.

In the second game of the weekend, Auckland were comfortable winners 8-1 as Northland again spent a long time defending against another Black Stick heavy team. Playing for Auckland was Northlander Dwayne Rowsell, along with national squad members Marcus Child, Dean Couzins, Devon Manchester, Arun Panchia and Jared Panchia.

Results

Northland 2 (James Watene, Aidan Rintala) North Harbour 5

Northland 1 (Sean Laidlaw) Auckland 8