Mangapai's Georgia Beehre pushes the ball under the feet of Old Girls' Jemma Lucas. Photo/Tania Whyte
Mangapai's Georgia Beehre pushes the ball under the feet of Old Girls' Jemma Lucas. Photo/Tania Whyte
A goal in the final moments of the game gave Maungakaramea a 2-1 win over premier hockey grade newcomers Whangarei Boys' High School in the first match of the season.
The newly promoted Boys' High side came out firing and a goal from Rio Tuson put the school side oneup early.
Boys' High assistant coach Christian Stainton was happy with the way his side stuck to their gameplan throughout but admitted his side would need to learn to cope with pressure situations.
"We held our structure and showed quite a bit of composure on the ball," Stainton said.
"We allowed Maungakaramea to have a 10-minute window of pressure on us [in the third quarter] and they got one through into the circle and took their opportunity," he added.
It was Cameron Hellier who converted for Maungakaramea late in the third quarter which set up an exciting final period of the Friday night match.
Boys' High continued with their gameplan and showed premier level skill and pace to keep the defending champions on their toes.
Maungakaramea held their nerve in the last quarter and took their chance when Brent Woolhouse slotted one home from the top of the circle with two minutes left on the clock.
Maungakaramea player/coach Sam Webb said they were tenacious enough to get the win.
"We showed good grit to hang in there and we knew that if we just kept doing the simple stuff we'd get the chances, it just took along time to come," he said.
In the other premier men's match on Saturday, Springfield took a 4-1 win over Bream Bay while Mangapai had the bye.
In the premier women's grade, Old Girls beat Mangapai 7-0 while Whangarei Girls' High School beat Hikurangi 3-0 and Springfield beat Maungakaramea 3-1.
