Hockey: Canterbury chasing double delight in finals

Canterbury will chase a dose of double delight when they contest both finals at the national hockey tournament in Whangarei tomorrow. Photo / Ron Burgin.

Canterbury will chase a dose of double delight when they contest both finals at the national hockey tournament in Whangarei tomorrow.

Both teams finished top of the men's Challenge Cup and women's K Cup, even though the men lost their final round robin game against Midlands, 3-2 today. Adriaan Stolk (two) and Joseph Lyons got the decisive goals for Midlands.

That result enabled Midlands to bump North Harbour into third and so they will face Canterbury again tomorrow.

The Canterbury women will play North Harbour, who had an anxious wait today, when they had the bye and had to hope the Canterbury result against Midlands went their way.
It did, Canterbury winning 3-2 with goals from Anne Mackechnie, Hannah Hill and Jackie Eden.

Midlands will be kicking themselves, having led 2-0 at halftime through Kim Tanner and Susie Gilbert.

Canterbury beat Harbour 1-0 in their round robin game earlier in the week, however midfielder Erin Goad, a former national junior representative and development squad player, believes there were important lessons to take out of that Canterbury loss.

''You always learn a lot more from a loss than a win. We have sat down and looked at those parts of the game we can do better," Goad said.

''We've gained quite a bit during the week in terms of implementing what we are trying to achieve. Hopefully we can finish it off tomorrow."

Auckland's miserable men's tournament ended in a 3-1 loss to Central, and are left playing off for fifth place tomorrow. Daniel Panchia got their goal while Matt Young, with two, and Martin Atkinson score for Central.

Shorn of their internationals, along with the other teams, as they have been given time off after the Olympics, the defending champions were well off the pace, nabbing only one win in the campaign.

The big winners of the day, at least on the scoreboard, were Capital, who thumped Northland 9-2, with eight players getting goals, Jared Jones striking two of them.

The bad news for Capital was that the win put them, for a short time, into the third-fourth playoff, only to be overtaken by Central.

Shorn of their internationals, along with the other teams, as they have been given time off after the Olympics, the defending champions were well off the pace, nabbing only one win in the campaign.

The Auckland women are chasing third in the playoffs today after a 6-1 over Central today, with two goals apiece for Madison Doar and Sam Harrison.

National league results:
Final round:
Men: Midlands 3 Canterbury 2, Capital 9 Northland 2, Central 3 Auckland 1.
Standings: Canterbury 16 pts 1, Midlands 16 2, North Harbour 16 3, Central 15 4, Capital 13 5, Auckland 5 6, Northland 0 7.
Playoffs today: (for 5th-6th) Auckland v Capital; (for 3rd-4th) North Harbour v Central; (for 1st-2nd) Canterbury v Midlands.

Women: Canterbury 3 Midlands 2, Auckland 6 Central 1, Capital 3 Northland 2.
Standings: Canterbury 21 pts 1, North Harbour 17 2, Auckland 15 3, Midlands 14 4, Capital 5 5, Northland 4 6, Central 3 7.
Playoffs today: (for 5th and 6th) Capital v Northland; (for 3rd and 4th) Auckland v Midlands; (for 1st and 2nd) Canterbury v North Harbour.