Hockey: Game plan pays off for Hikurangi

Hikurangi's goalie Nicky Mathews on task during her team's 2-1 victory over Springfield. Photo / Michael Cunningham

It was the battle of the red and blacks with Hikurangi coming out 2-1 winners over Springfield in the Northland premier women's hockey competition.

Hikurangi coach Marika Currie was over the moon about getting a gusty win over last year's champions on Saturday.

"I'm really stoked with the effort the team put in," Currie said.

"We stuck to the plan, worked really hard and kept composed," she added.

Hikurangi got the lead early in the game when Claudia King converted a penalty corner before Springfield levelled the scores soon after.

Hikurangi's Taylor Still then finished off a goal mouth scramble to put her team 2-1 ahead going into the quarter time break.

Springfield applied pressure throughout the rest of the match but were unable to convert any attack into points.

Currie praised her goalkeeper for boosting morale by making stunning saves to keep her side in the lead saying "the calibre of Nicky Matthews is a huge benefit to our team and a good goal keeper wins you games."

"Springfield had their chances for sure but with our keeper and our old heads in there we managed to weather the storm," Currie added.

Springfield started to show frustration after having long periods on attack but not being able to score.

A penalty corner was awarded to Springfield on full time but the shot went wide.

In other premier women's games, Old Girls held their lead on the competition with a 3-1 win over Maungakaramea and Whangarei Girls' High beat Mangapai 1-0 in the Friday night match.

In the premier men's games , Springfield beat Maungakaramea 2-0 and Mangapai beat Bream Bay United 5-0.