HOCKEY - Premier grade is a greenwash

This year will go down as another "greenwash", with Maungakaramea teams achieving their second successive year of Northland premier grade hockey dominance, by winning both the men's and women's titles.
Maungakaramea men ran away with their final, beating surprise finalists' Springfield 4-1, with strong defence the cornerstone of their win.
Maungakaramea captain Brett Hood said the margin might not have been so clear if they had not defended so tenaciously.
"They came at us pretty hard and we knew that was going to happen, so we just tried to stick to our gameplan," he said.
He picked out Luke Gillingham for special mention, saying he had never seen him play so well alongside the ever-dependable John Child, and that combination had been an important factor in the side's win.
"We defended well and we build our game on our defence, but it didn't really feel like we were all over them in the first half. They had their opportunities which, if they could have converted one or even two goals, would have made it a bit different in the second half," he said.
A Sam Webb dragflick got Maungakaramea on the board in the sixth minute and they continued to threaten the Springfield goal, with only some good saves from goalkeeper Josh Hodgson keeping them from doubling their lead.
They scored again five minutes before half-time, off their fifth penalty corner when Hodgson was sold a dummy, with the ball actually bypassing Webb before going to David Heappey to shoot home.
The goal finally brought Springfield out of their shell, with the team mounting two or three good attacks before the break and earning three PCs of their own, drawing two great saves from Hayden Baker that were to prove pivotal in the context of the match.
A Graeme Bint deflection from a Heappey cross virtually killed off the game in the 43rd minute before a fourth finally goal did - this time with Heappey the finisher and Bint the provider.
Credit must go to Springfield, who never gave up and were finally rewarded after time was up by a Dion Watts consolation goal.
Hood said Springfield had seemed flat in the match and put it down to the fact that five of their players had played in the men's reserve final, between Boys' High school and Mangapai B, an hour or two before the final.
The women's premier final was a lot closer, with only an Anna Thorpe strike in the 45th minute of the match proving the difference between Maungakaramea and Whangarei Girls' High School.
The first half was dominated by neither team for long and both teams failed to grasp opportunities to take the lead.
Maungakaramea captain Tania Crene had predicted that there would be only a one-goal margin between the two teams but couldn't keep a note of relief out of her voice after the game.
"We're very happy, ecstatic really. Girls' High have been our bogey team all year and in finals hockey taking your chances becomes so important," she said.
Crene wasn't too keen on playing sudden death hockey against a younger, fitter side and, after failing to add to their advantage, Maungakaramea were happy to run the clock down in the final 10 minutes.
They played some tidy possession, with Stephanie Hudson controlling things from the back.
High school were perhaps guilty of failing to react to the tactic until it was too late and, although Anna Weir and Natasha Cotton almost contrived to score a late equaliser, it was too little too late.
Jacinda McLeod said it was a shame they hadn't managed to take their chances.
"We had a couple of chances that went so close but in the end we couldn't put them away, and I guess that's just hockey," she said.
The high school team now turns its attention to defending the Federation Cup in Auckland this week.