HOCKEY - Hikurangi coach finally smiles

After weeks of bad news, Hikurangi coach Vicky Gribble was finally smiling when her side upset competition leaders Maungakaramea 4-1 on Saturday.
Both teams were well short of playing with their full complement and Hikurangi reacted better to the difficult conditions.
Without Anna Thorpe and Nat Child, Maungakaramea were unable to wreak their usual havoc up front and Gribble said Hikurangi's tight defence won them the game.
"Conditions suited us and we had a really solid defence, and perhaps they took us a bit lightly," she said.
Hikurangi's right inner, Alyx Pivac, was exceptional, breaking down Maungakaramea attacks before they became dangerous and she also had a hand in several of Hikurangi's attacks. Kylie Henderson scored a hat-trick, with Michelle Scott-Davidson Hikurangi's other scorer, while reserve team player Amy Riley scored the Maungakaramea team's only goal.
The win was a big boost for Hikurangi's morale with the playoffs just four weeks away.
The match was the only one played in the women's premier league, with Whangarei Girls' High School and Kamo High School players away at national tournaments. They played their match earlier in the season, with Girls' High winning 3-0.
In the men's competition, Maungakaramea were big winners, beating Springfield 5-1.
Maungakaramea dominated a weakened Springfield side early on, notching up three goals to Sam Webb, David Heappey and Brett Hood in the first spell.
Springfield had a number of good chances in both halves but some good shot stopping by Maungakaramea keeper Hayden Baker brought them up empty-handed until Raoul Weidlich finally scored a consolation goal in the second spell, with Allan Ford and Heappey second-half scorers for Maungakaramea.
Springfield were missing five of their regular starters, out on age-group representative duty, but weren't too far off the pace in the match. Maungakaramea were just more clinical when it came to finishing.
Bream Bay, with many of their team's players also on rep-duty, could only manage five players for their match against Mangapai and defaulted. The Northland men's squad to play North Harbour at ITM Rosvall Stadium in a provincial warm-up game next Sunday will be named in tomorrow's Northern Advocate.