Ford National Hockey League finals day schedule confirmed

The Ford National Hockey League finals match-ups have been confirmed following Round 7 at the Whangarei ITM Hockey Centre.

The Womens K Cup final will see the Canterbury Cats go up against North Harbour at 1:00pm, while Auckland and Midlands play for bronze at 9:30am.

In the Mens Challenge Shield final the Canterbury Cavaliers battle it out with Midlands at 3:00pm, following North Harbour against Central Mavericks in the bronze medal match at 11:15am.

Both Mens and Womens finals and bronze medal matches will be broadcast LIVE on SKY Sport 4 throughout the day.

The Canterbury Cats secured their place in the womens final after defeating Midlands 3-2 in a nail biting clash which saw Midlands needing a win to make it into the top two.

Midlands played a strong first half and went into the break leading 2-0 following goals from Kim Tanner and Susie Gilbert.

But the Cats flexed their muscles in the second half and scored three unanswered goals through Anne Mackechnie, Hannah Hill and Jackie Eden to ensure a first place finish with 21 points at the conclusion of round robin.

Auckland earned themselves a chance to play for bronze with a dominant 6-1 result against the Central Mysticks.

Samantha Harrison and Madison Doar both netted doubles for Auckland while Julia King and Melissa Simpson also scored. Tyler Lench scored the lone goal for Central.

In Mens results, Midlands held on under late pressure to defeat the Canterbury Cavaliers 3-2 and snatch a place in the final over North Harbour, based on a superior number of outright wins.

Midlands opened strongly and raced out to a 2-0 advantage thanks to penalty corner goals from Adriaan Stolk (3rd minute) and Joseph Lyons (41st minute).

Canterbury pulled one back late in the third quarter through Dominic Newman before Midlands opened a 3-1 buffer with Stolk scoring his double in the 47th minute.

Nick Haig slotted home from a penalty corner for Canterbury soon after but the Cavaliers were unable to find an equalising goal, setting up a rematch with the title at stake tomorrow.

The Central Mavericks secured their place to play for bronze after downing Auckland 3-1 to hold on to fourth place at the end of round robin.

Defending champions the Capital Cobras had early moved into contention for bronze with a 9-2 victory against hosts Northland, before the Mavericks powered back in their game.

Matt Young starred for Central with a brace of goals while Martin Atkinson added another to move up to first equal top goal scorer at the tournament going into finals day.

The 2016 Ford National Hockey League is proudly supported by the Whangarei District Council and Trillian Trust.

FORD NHL ROUND 7 RESULTS - WOMEN

Canterbury Cats 3: (Anne Mackechnie, Hannah Hill, Jackie Eden)

Midlands 2: (Kim Tanner, Susie Gilbert)

Auckland 6: (Samantha Harrison 2, Madison Doar 2, Julia King, Melissa Simpson)

Central Mysticks 1: (Tyler Lench)

Capital 3: (Felicity Reidy, Aniwaka Roberts, Caitlin Procter)

Northland 2: (Kelsey Eaton, Laura Douglas)

BYE: North Harbour

FORD NHL ROUND 7 RESULTS - MEN

Midlands 3: (Adriaan Stolk 2, Joseph Lyons)

Canterbury Cavaliers 2: (Dominic Newman, Nick Haig)

Capital Cobras 9: (Jared Jones 2, Martin van Liemt, Stephen Jenness, Oliver MacIntyre, Steven Crossett, Ollie Logan, Benedict van Woerkom, Phil Roper)

Northland 2: (Sanjay Smith, Luther Cronin)

Central Mavericks 3: (Matt Young 2, Martin Atkinson)

Auckland 1: (Daniel Panchia)

BYE: North Harbour



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ