HOCKEY - Weekend of upsets marks finals games

After a fairly regulation season, the long-awaited start to finals hockey didn't disappoint with two out of the three matches in the Northland premier grade producing big upsets on Saturday.
Undoubtedly the biggest of those was the men's semifinal victory by Springfield over Mangapai.
Mangapai started the match as overwhelming favourites after beating their opponents five times in the regular season with two matches drawn, so nobody was prepared for Springfield's 6-2 victory, not even the players themselves.
"We were always confident we could win the game but probably not 6-2 confident. I think that score would have surprised a few people," Springfield's Brent Markwick said.
He said the team hadn't uncovered any new players but instead had hatched a plan to beat their rivals.
"We had a bit of a game plan in place that we've been working on for the past few weeks and it paid off in the end," he said.
"We managed to make a lot more scoring opportunities than they did and defensively we were a lot stronger than we've been for most of the year, which helped a lot."
The team started well with Raoul Weidlich scoring the first of his two goals early on, followed quickly by a second goal to Markwick and another to Tom Keogh from a stroke to lead 3-2 at the break. Oke Alff, Weidlich and Toby Peacock were the second half scorers as Springfield turned an upset win into a rout.
The other upset of the day featured Whangarei Girls' High School beating Old Girls in a penalty shootout after the game was tied at 2-2 in regulation time.
Neither side looked remotely like scoring in a scrappy and disjointed first half but the underdogs started the second spell better, earning a run of penalty corners, one of which was converted by Girls' High's Jacinda McLeod to open the scoring.
The goal sparked Old Girls into life and they began playing an expansive game, with Jess MacAllister creating a great chance for Tarannah Vette, who equalised a few minutes later. Old Girls continued to create good chances and Girls' High keeper Rachael Lecky made two good saves to keep her side in the match. It all looked to be in vain when Laura Douglas showed a touch of class to score with five minutes of the match remaining.
Girls' High threw everything they had at an equaliser and were awarded a PC with three minutes to go. The resulting shot was saved by keeper Moira Chamberlain but not cleared, with the keeper then drawn higher into the circle trying to shut down Anna Weir, who scored on the turn.
There was no further score in two periods of extra time and the student side had obviously been practising their strokes, winning the shootout comfortably 4-2.
McLeod said the team's more experienced players helped hold the side together when the going got tough.
"Maungakaramea were supporting us yesterday and I think they believe they can beat us but, if we can come out and play with the same grit and determination that we did yesterday, then I think Karamea will have something to worry about," she said.
The day started with fourth-placed Hikurangi pushing the round robin champions into a seven-a-side golden goal contest before Anna Thorpe scored the winner for Maungakaramea, after clever lead-up work by Monica Hudson.
Tight defence had dominated the game, which was set alight by Hikurangi's Jo McQueen's penalty stroke with five minutes to go.
But Sheryl Thorne equalised before the final whistle, to save her side's blushes and send the game into extra time.