Midlands women win national hockey title

Midlands women enjoy the moment after winning the Ford National Hockey League. Photo / Photosport

Midlands won the women's K Cup while North Harbour came away with the men's Challenge Shield on finals day at the Ford National Hockey League in Wellington.

Midlands defeated Northland 4-2 in the women's final thanks to three goals in the first half from Tauranga players Gemma McCaw, Rose Keddell and Samantha Charlton.

Northland came out of the break with intensity and pulled a goal back through a Stacey Michelsen penalty corner strike.

Shiloh Gloyn responded with a field goal for Midlands just a minute later and while Northland scored again in the 43rd minute, they weren't able to catch Midlands who secured their first K Cup title since 2013.

Northland's Ella Gunson was awarded Most Valuable Player while Jodie Nichol (Northland) and Rachel McCann (Canterbury) finished joint winners of the Just Hockey top goal scorer trophy having found the back of the net six times during the tournament.

For the men, North Harbour lifted the Challenge Shield thanks to an inspired come from behind win 5-3 over Auckland.

With the score tied 1-1 at halftime, Auckland grabbed the ascendancy in the third quarter courtesy of two quick-fire Jared Panchia goals.

But down by a goal, North Harbour mounted an incredible comeback and poured on four unanswered goals in the final eight minutes to snatch a famous victory.

Defender Cory Bennett was the star of the day with a hat-trick from penalty corner drag flicks while Robbie Capizzi and George Muir also scored.

It's North Harbour's first Ford National Hockey League title since 2009.

Auckland captain Arun Panchia was named Most Valuable Player while Canterbury's Sam Lane took the Just Hockey top goal scorer trophy with 13 strikes during the tournament.

In the women's bronze medal match, Auckland won 3-0 in a shoot-out against North Harbour following an exciting match which ended level 1-1 at fulltime.

With the score 0-0 for most of the match, both teams exchanged goals in the fourth quarter through Julia King for Auckland and Samantha Polovnikoff for North Harbour to take the game to a deciding shoot-out.

The Capital Cobras ran away with a comfortable 6-1 result over the Southern Dogs in the men's bronze medal game in front of a vocal home crowd.

Capital went into halftime with a 3-1 advantage before adding another three goals in the second half to seal the result.

Benedict van Woerkom and Dane Lett both scored doubles while Sam Miskimmin and Sebastian Buddle also made it onto the score sheet.

North Harbour won this year's Ramesh Patel Shield for the best performing region across all three regional tournaments including the Ford NHL, Vantage Under 21s and Vantage Under 18s.