A brave Northland's men team went down 3-0 against Auckland on Sunday.
The game, in Auckland, was the team's first warm-up in the build up to the National Hockey League tournament in Wellington next month.
With only one training session together before the game, coach Vicki Gribble said she was relatively happy
with her team's performance.
"The step up from club hockey to rep hockey is a big one, and the team stepped up really well.
"Our preparation hasn't been good. We've only had one training [session] together, and that was only with the Whangarei boys."
The team, who finished seventh at the national tournament last year, had to adjust quickly to Auckland's pace. "The team's commitment was really good. Auckland definitely push for the final every year."
Standout players were goalkeeper Rob Nicholl and fullback Dave Adams, who were "solid in defence".
The women went down in similar fashion on Sunday, also in Auckland, losing 3-1 in their second of four warm-up matches, before the tournament.
Northland's centre half Rana Vette said despite the loss the team could take some positives from the game.
"There's heaps of potential in the strikers Anna Thorpe and Charlotte Harrison, and the under-16 girls in defence stepped up really well, considering their age," she said.
Harrison, who scored the side's only goal, and Thorpe have both been selected for the Black Sticks women's team competing in the Oceania Cup at the end of this month.
With coach Grant McLeod in Boston at the Junior World Cup, Vette said the squad's focus was to get their basic structure right before he picks the final team for the national tournament.
In the Northland premier women's hockey competition, Whangarei Girls' High School won a close battle with Hikurangi 2-1, and Maungakaramea defeated Kamo High School 5-0.
In the men's competition Springfield fought out a 2-1 win over Mangapai, while Maungakaramea trounced Bream Bay United 8-1.
