Young players tigers on the turf

Rachael Lecky, Brooke Neal and Jade McLeod, are all up for sports awards this Friday after continuing Northland Hockey's proud tradition at the national level by representing New Zealand's under-16 team.
The trio played a three-test series against Queensland U19 Secondary School rep. sides and in the process took out the annual Tiger Turf Trophy.
The tournament played in Auckland's saw them draw the first match 1-1, win the second 1-0 and the third by the same score.
The under-16 boys won their first match before suffering defeats in the following two games, thus losing the trophy by the narrowest of margins.
Former Northland NHL coach Angeline Waetford was the girls' coach for the series and said the pressure during the final game was intense.
"It was a pretty tight series and in the end we were probably kind of lucky to come through it with the win," she said.
"But we defended really well and took our opportunities when we had them."
Waetford said all three of the girls will now graduate into the next age-grade but at the moment the future of the elite age-group programme is up in the air, with a review under way.