Whangarei Old Girls make it two in a row

A never-say-die attitude and consistency earned Whangarei Old Girls a deserved second consecutive premier women's hockey championship title, when they downed Whangarei Girls' High School 3-0 in the final. 
Old Girls coach Alan Lints overloaded his attack on Saturday, using four forwards up front with a dual centre field pairing, hoping to apply early pressure on the schoolgirls, pushing them up to create scoring opportunities.
Girls' High absorbed the style of play and it was an evenly matched game for most of the first half, with WGHS and Old Girls both posting several attempts at goal.
The second half saw Lints adopt a more traditional structure with his side, with three players in the mid-centre and three up front. Laura Douglas moved to mid-centre and the side started to see benefits from playing with a bit more width, Lints said.
"That's when we started to unravel them. Girls' High's strength is their midfield, and so we had to play out wide so we could get in front of them to score."
Garbi Smith produced the first goal for Old Girls, deflecting the ball into the net just after halftime. Old Girls continued to press the schoolgirls, and only three minutes later, Melissa Simpson put a reverse flick shot into goal.
Nicky Hayes put away a third and final goal for Old Girls,  for convincing win.
"We dominated the second half and wore them down. We have played three games in a row and scored 10 goals, and haven't conceded any, which is an indication of this side's consistency ... that's what won us the title," he said.
Lints has coached Old Girls for the past two years, and the pressure is now on his side to win their third consecutive premiership, he said.

In the premier men's final, Maungakaramea were too strong for Bream Bay, winning 3-1, and claimed their fifth consecutive championship.
Bream Bay were confronted with  an experienced line up for the final - a team which Bream Bay coach Vicki Gribble described as one who knew how to take the game.
"We had just started to break them down during the first 15 minutes but soon after that Sam Webb scored his first field goal and from then on we were playing catch-up hockey,"  she said.
Dennis Drake added another goal for Maungakaramea in the first half, giving them a 2-0 advantage heading into the interval. After the break, Webb stretched out his side's lead to 3-0 when he slotted a penalty corner drag flick.
Bream Bay tried desperately to reel Maungakaramea back in and Mike Scott found space to put them on the scoreboard with 15 minutes left in the game, but they were unable to pin down their opposition, Gribble said.
"I'm still really happy with where we finished.  We need to work on our consistency, which is what Maungakaramea have and serves them well."
It was Gribble's first season coaching Bream Bay and it was a very enjoyable one, with the players responding to having a coach, rather than using a player/coach as they have done in previous years, without much luck.
Northland Hockey chief executive Grant McLeod said the finals day at ITM Rosvall Stadium was a huge success on Saturday, with great games of hockey being contested. In the other finals played, Maungakaramea C beat Maungaturoto 2-1 in the division one women, while Mangapai B second division women also won their match 2-1 against Whangarei Girls' High School D. In the men's first division, Kamo beat Mangapai B easily, winning 4-1.
The reserve women's grade saw Hikurangi Black defeat Old Girls, 2-0 and in the reserve men's,  Springfield beat Mangapai 6-2.