Hockey: Harbour men win derby game in round four

The North Harbour men took bragging rights in front of a vocal home crowd with a 5-3 win over Auckland in round four of the National Hockey League today.

Joseph Bartholomew scored a brilliant hat-trick of penalty corner drag flicks while veteran Jan Peterson delivered a double to ensure the result for Harbour.

Auckland struggled to keep up with the free-flowing attack of North Harbour, leading to their first loss of the tournament after yesterday's game against Southern was postponed due to heavy rain.

Earlier in the day, Northland men got their first win of the tournament with a solid 5-4 win over Central. After falling behind by two, Northland scored five unanswered goals with international guest player Gauthier Boccard netting twice.

The Canterbury Cavaliers stunned Capital 5-1, with Mirco Pruyser scoring a double and Richard Bain, Jason Niles and William Davidson filling out the scoresheet. The result has seen Canterbury jump up to the top of the men's points table.

Southern versus Midlands went right to the wire with the game level 1-1 for much of the second half before a Kane Russell drag flick gave Southern the advantage. Midlands won a penalty corner right on fulltime but the flick was padded away by Hamish McGregor in goal.

On the women's side of the draw, the Auckland women ended Capital's undefeated streak with a 3-2 win in a high intensity clash.

Krystal Forgesson, Sam Harrison and Elizabeth Thompson scored for Auckland, who are now clear on top of the table with 13 points.

Auckland captain Krystal Forgesson was pleased with the result, which has given her side momentum going into round five tomorrow. (mon)

``Today's win was really satisfying and we've been working pretty hard since the first game. Capital were undefeated coming into this so to beat them has given us huge confidence for the rest of the week,'' she said.

Also on the women's side of the draw, the Canterbury Cats edged Northland 2-1 in a tight encounter with goals from Rachel McCann and Sian Fremaux.

Midlands took a straightforward 6-0 victory over Southern Storm guided by a brace of goals from Renee Ashton.

In the final women's game of the day, North Harbour thrashed the Central Mysticks 6-1.

Results

Men: Northland 5 (Gauthier Boccard 2, Keeley Johnson, Sean Laidlaw, Own Goal) bt Central Mavericks 4 (Simon Beaton 2, Veeran Morar, Martin Atkinson)

North Harbour 5 (Joseph Bartholomew 3, Jan Peterson 2) bt Auckland Fury 3 (Dwayne Rowsell, Sam Miskimmin, Own Goal)

Canterbury Cavaliers 5 (Richard Bain, Jason Niles, Mirco Pruyser 2, William Davidson) bt Capital 1 (Gabriel Kepes)

Southern Dogs 2: (Callum Bailey, Kane Russell) bt Midlands 1: (Ronald Brouwer)

Women: Auckland Fury 3: (Elizabeth Thompson, Sam Harrison, Krystal Forgesson) bt Capital 2 (Carolina Welten, Katarina O'Callaghan)

Canterbury Cats 2 (Rachel McCann, Sian Fremaux) bt Northland 1 (Own Goal)

Midlands 6 (Imogen Neil, Renee Ashton 2, Shiloh Gloyn, Katie Long, Own Goal) bt Southern Storm 0

North Harbour 6 (Erin Goad, Michelle Borren, Holly Evans, Tori Taylor, Rhiannon Dennison, Own Goal) bt Central Mysticks 1 (Kandice Olivieri)