Central hockey girls win first NZ title

The Central under-18 girls hockey team have won their first national title.

Central beat Canterbury 4-1 in the final of the national tournament at Whangarei on Saturday in the first time Central had made the final.

The Central boys also reached the final, losing 6-0 to Canterbury, making it the first time in six years Central has had two teams in a national final in the same year. The last time was when the two senior Central teams reached the final at the National Hockey League in 2011.

In their pool games, Central beat Northland 6-1 and Midlands 3-2, then in crossover games beat Canterbury 4-3 on a penalty shootout, having been level 2-all at fulltime, North Harbour 4-1 and Auckland 4-0.

Central coach Verity Sharland said the girls in the team were a lot stronger compared to the rest.

Canterbury was the team that pushed Central the hardest during the week, with the pool game a lot closer than the final.

‘‘Midweek we drew with [Canterbury] and won on the shootout in pool play,’’ Sharland said. ‘‘Then we were able to overcome them and win in normal time in the final, which is good.

‘‘Midlands pushed us really hard and gave us a really tough game, which we needed leading into the semifinal, which was good as well.’’

In the final the first two quarters were close and Central went up 1-0.

Canterbury answered back to be level 1-all at halftime, but then Central scored three goals in the third quarter to take control of the game.

Kaitlin Cotter and Anna Crowley both scored and Megan Phillips grabbed a double, and three of the goals came from penalty corners.

Midfielder Emma Rainey of Wanganui was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Sharland put their win down to a team performance, with a lot of strong players who controlled the game in each layer of the pitch.

The Central boys, who won the competition two years ago, finished second after they lost the final 6-0 to Canterbury.

In pool play, Central beat Capital 5-2, North Harbour 1-0 and Southern 6-4. They lost 2-0 to Canterbury and 4-1 to Midlands on a penalty shootout, having been level 1-all at fulltime.

Harry Lawson from Hawke’s Bay was the boys MVP.