Hockey: Independent prevail in winter competition

The Hawke's Bay hockey club winter competition came to an end this week in Napier with nail-biting finishes in the men and women's premier finals.

Bay Independent 1 and Akina Rovers White engaged in a fast-paced game with end-to-end passages of play at the Park Island turfs.

Graeme Findlay drew first blood in the 20th minute for Independent with a superb shot in general play, a score that remained until halftime.

Ten minutes into the second half, Joe Hanks equalised for Akina with a penalty corner.

With neither side scoring again before fulltime, the match went to penalty strokes, with Independent prevailing 9-8.

Napier Tech Academy and Akina Rovers Blue competed akin to the blokes in the women's final but the latter went into halftime 2-1 up with both goalkeepers making some superb saves.

With seconds to go and Akina 3-2 up, Tech had an opportunity in the circle but could not deliver.

In the men's reserve grade finals, Akina Rovers Blue beat Te Awa Scinde Passmasters in an epic 9-7 victory, while Napier Tech White were 2-0 champions over Bay Independent Evergreens in the women's final.

The next event on the hockey calendar is the Hawke's Bay Masters Hockey on September 21-22 followed by the national under-15 boys' championship during October 1-6.

The annual CCR Queensland Challenge between the Queensland boys and girls' secondary schools teams and the Bay academy boys and girls' under-18 teams will be played on October 3-4 at Park Island.