Youth, experience good combination

Bream Bay's mix of youthful enthusiasm and experience in their forwards proved a success in the Northland Premier Men's Hockey competition, when they rolled 2009 champions Maungakaramea, 5-1.
"We are feeling pretty happy with ourselves at the moment. It's nice to be on the giving end rather than the receiving end," Bream Bay coach Vicki Gribble said.
Maungakaramea were slightly under strength and had to draw on their reserve side to play on Saturday at ITM Rosvall Stadium, but it did not discredit the Bream Bay men's efforts,  who led at halftime 2-1.
"We still played well. We had a good striker line with our three goal scorers all up front and we are working on a more solid defence - and our experienced fullbacks Dave Adams and Aaryn Koia are providing a good foundation for the defence," Gribble said.
Kamo High's Keeley Jonson and Geoff Nankerville have joined the Bream Bay contingent  and have impressed Gribble.  However, the coach's latest addition of Malcolm Rawnsley has resulted in an effective combination up front.
 
 In the other men's match, Mangapai and Springfield were neck and neck until Springfield scored in the final 10 minutes to claim the match 2-1.
In the premier women's competition, teams played their second consecutive double header at the weekend.
Round six on Saturday saw the competition benchmark team Old Girls go up against Springfield for the second time this season.  Old Girls were too strong for Springfield, going up 3-1 early in the first half. The second half was scoreless for both sides, and Old Girls  remain unbeaten to date. It was Springfield's first loss this year, which they put behind them when they played Kamo High yesterday and won 4-0. Maungakaramea also had a
comfortable 6-0 win over Kamo on Saturday, before going head to head with Whangarei Girls High in round seven. While Maungakaramea came away with a 4-3 win, they had to work hard to fend off a late comeback from the schoolgirls.
On Saturday, Hikurangi had a 2-1 win over Girls' High, and they were just pipped yesterday, 2-1 by Old Girls. It was a tough battle, with both sides tied at 1-1 for the majority of the match.