Hockey: Last two spots for women's semifinals could be anyone's

Wellington's Kieran Glover, left, in action against Auckland's Michael Gunn. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

There will be real interest in two of the final women's round matches in Wellington on Wednesday as the race for the semifinals spots in the national league go down to the wire.

With front-runners Midlands and Canterbury expected to win and go through, North Harbour's clash with Southern and Auckland's late game with Central will sort out the make-up of Friday's playoffs.

Harbour must win and then hope Central, already assured of their semifinal place, beat Auckland. That would put Harbour into the top four at the expense of their cross-town rivals.

The top three sides all won in Saturday's sixth round action with Midlands clinging to their narrow lead on goal difference from Canterbury and Central. All teams have identical four-win, one-draw, one-loss records.

Led by four goals from in-form Katie Glynn, Auckland thumped bottom-placed Wellington 7-1 to move ahead of North Harbour into fourth place.

Harbour lost 2-1 to Canterbury after they went to the break locked 1-1. A penalty corner conversion from player of the day Stacey Carr earned Canterbury the victory which kept them in the three-way tie at the top of the table.

Midlands were pressed all the way by lowly Northland before getting home 1-0 with Stacey Brannigan's 56th minute goal.

Former internationals Caryn Paewai (two) and Moira Senior (one) were among the goals as Central out-paced Southern to win 4-1 in Dunedin.

Toni Townsend surprised the visitors in scoring the opening goal but Central fought back to lead 2-1 at the break. Youngster Cathryn Finlayson joined her more experienced team-mates on the scoresheet.

The calculators will be whirring in Wellington on Thursday night as the top teams in the men's national league battle to sort out the finishing order for Saturday's semifinals.

With previously unbeaten North Harbour upset 2-1 by defending champions Canterbury in Christchurch on Saturday, the top four teams are separated by just three points with goal difference leaving Harbour ahead of Canterbury at the top of table.

Auckland, who also pulled off something of an upset with their 2-0 win over early pace-setters Wellington, have gone ahead of the Capital side into third place, again on goal difference.

Canterbury Black Stick Brad Shaw gave the home side their lead in the match of the day with a brilliant solo effort after 22 minutes.

Simon Brill hit home from the top of the circle to equalise in the 44th minute but Canterbury had the last say when Andrew Nation completed a strong attacking move to score six minutes from time. After a scoreless first half at Lloyd Elsmore Park, Dharmesh Puna provided the finishing touch at a penalty corner on the hour to put Auckland ahead. Four minutes later Simon Child combined with Jono Brooker to score from the top of the circle to ensure the victory over the favoured Wellingtonians.

Despite their 5-3 away win over Southern, Central can finish the round-robin in no better than fifth place. They could, however, play a part in deciding the semifinal pairings as they play Auckland in what promises to be the match of the seventh (and final) round on Thursday.

In a nine-goal thriller in Tauranga, Northland, 0-2 down at halftime, out-scored their rivals in the second spell to claim a stunning 5-4 win their first of the season.

Sam Webb and Stephen O'Connor scored two each for Northland as did John Forbes and Arif Ali for Midlands.