Northland may still hold sting in their tail

Northland's representative hockey teams will battle to overcome poor results in pool play in today's NHL crossover matches.

Marsden Cove Northland men finished the round robin with just one win from seven games and on that form might be expected to play against Central for the wooden spoon playoff tomorrow. But, as the team showed in their final pool match on Thursday against Southern, they may still have a sting left in their tail.

They forced the highly rated Southern side, who finished pool play in second place, to twice come from behind to level at 2-2 at full-time. Frustratingly for Northland, the Southerners then won the penalty shoot-out but it was a vastly improved performance and couldn't have come at a better time, said team manager Vicky Gribble.

"We could have quite easily won it a number of times but we need to sort out our game in the attacking circle and make the most of out chances," she said.

The team continues to improve in the tournament environment and Gribble said if they can start their matches without conceding early goals then they can threaten any side.

"The result [against Southern] is a real boost with the playoffs ahead and we're confident we're in better shape now than we were at the beginning of the tournament," she said.

Northland will certainly have to step up because they play sixth-placed Capital, who beat them 7-1 in round robin play, with the loser going on to the wooden spoon playoff tomorrow. In today's semifinals, Auckland play Midlands while Canterbury take on Southern.

Mark Cromie Holden Northland women will take on seventh-placed Central tomorrow in their crossover match. Northland lost 2-0 to Central in pool play last Saturday and will be after revenge. The women's team have been competitive in the round robin but have only managed two wins to see them finish in sixth. Their narrow 3-2 defeat against top side Midlands on Thursday almost a familiar story for the team: plenty of hard work for no return.

In the semifinals, Midlands play Canterbury, while Auckland take on Capital.