Hockey: Northland girls pipped to medals

Northland girls U18 side finished fourth in their national hockey tournament in Dunedin but with an ounce of luck might have gone further.

The side ended up beaten by rivals Manawatu 1-0 in extra-time in the third-place match, in one of the best contests of the entire tournament.

After a scratchy start which saw Northland's participation in the playoff round threatened, the side came back to finish the tournament well.

"In the end the girls were disappointed to miss out on a medal, but hopefully after a few days they can reflect on things and see just how well they've done," coach Meredith McInnes said.

After a 1-0 loss and a 3-3 draw against Nelson, Northland had to dig deep to beat a highly rated Wairarapa side 1-0, thanks to an Arni Palmer goal. They then defeated one of the pre-tournament favourites North Harbour 2-0 with goals to Jess Heywood and Nicole McDonnell-Kelly to qualify for the semifinals.

The improvement in their defence pleased the coach, particularly after they had been beaten twice by North Harbour in pre-season games.

Auckland started well in their semifinal and after 20 minutes were two goals ahead. Northland were forced to chase the match but their scoring touch deserted them particularly when they took off their keeper with 10 minutes to go and manufactured a number of scoring chances.

Their luck was also off in their last match with Manawatu.

Canterbury won the tournament, beating Auckland 4-2 in the final.

The boys U18 team finished their tournament in Palmerston North by drawing the last place playoff with Mid-South Canterbury 1-1. The two teams had earlier drawn 2-all in pool play.

Canterbury also won the boys title, beating Auckland 4-2.