HOCKEY - Cocking working overtime in goal

Being the goal-keeper for the Northland men's team this season team has some benefits.
Especially if you are a player with designs on padding-up for the Black Sticks and have already piqued the interest of the national selectors, like Jareth Cocking, Northland's man holding down the fort in goal.
A serious candidate for age-group national honours this year, Cocking's brilliance in the pads is one of the few highlights of the season.
Northland have yet to win a game in this campaign, and are set to try to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon when they play the National Hockey League finals in Albany this weekend. But if they end up with the wooden-ware, it won't be a slight on Cocking's goal-keeping pedigree.
Northland lost 6-2 to Auckland on Saturday and 9-0 to Wellington yesterday, but had it not been for Cocking then who knows what the scores could have been. Cocking saved two penalty corners yesterday, and even blocked a penalty stroke from early in the first spell. His efforts in fending off field goal attempts went well into double figures.
But for a 17-year-old keeper, getting peppered in goal by some of the nation's best hockey players is the best place in town.
"I was real happy with the saves I pulled off. The penalty stroke was from the Aussie player Brent Livermore, so I was happy with that one. It hasn't been easy in goal, but it's the best way to play keeper; you get lots of action. There's no point playing in one of those good teams and getting nothing," Cocking said.
"This is my third year in the Northland team, I have been on the bench for the last two years so it's real good to finally get out there and play some games. But it is quite hard getting dicked each weekend".
Yesterday Northland were under the cosh from the outset, trailing 0-3 at halftime and finding a well-organised Wellington unit difficult to contain. It wasn't all one-way traffic, but the first half alone had Cocking and his defensive team working overtime.
The game was over as a contest when Wellington scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half to lead 5-0, their Australian imports Brent Livermore and Paterson leading the charge. They coasted to 9-0 and toyed with Northland until the final hooter.
Northland will play off for the wooden spoon against Central on Saturday after playing them in the final round robin game at Albany on Thursday. Wellington, North Harbour, Canterbury, Auckland and Midlands are all fighting it out for play-off berths.