Hockey: Penalty corner goal leads Springfield to win

Hikurangi's Journie Huston and Maungakaramea's Sammy Wasson battle as Maungakaramea picked up a 2-0 win. Photo/John Stone

A penalty corner goal from Strachan McLeod was the difference between Springfield and Mangapai in their premier men's hockey match.

The top of the table tussle saw both teams fighting for points but there were few opportunities for either team to score in the tight game.

Springfield coach Grant McLeod praised his side's defence and his reserve grade players for stepping up.

"We only had eight of our premier team there so we had a couple of young boys from the reserves, and it was a really good effort by those guys that came on board, particularly Brady Barnes and Ryan Lenssen," McLeod said.

Springfield's strong defence gave them the edge over Mangapai as they didn't allow the opposition strikers a chance to attack by stepping up and shutting them down quickly.

"We think we have a pretty good defence and we're getting better so we didn't allow them too many opportunities," McLeod added.

With only limited opportunities in the Friday night match it wasn't until the third quarter when the deadlock was broken when Strachan McLeod converted a penalty corner chance.

Springfield claimed first round honours with the win but McLeod admits that doesn't mean much with a long way to go in the season.

In the other premier men's match played on Saturday, Whangarei Boys' High School beat Bream Bay 3-0.

On the women's side, Springfield were involved in another top of that table battle and a 2-all draw with Old Girls was enough to keep them on top.

Maungakaramea beat Hikurangi 2-0 and Whangarei Girls' High School beat Mangapai 9-0.

Meanwhile the top four teams of Northland's reserve A women's hockey grade continue to push ahead of the bottom four as they started the second round of three over the weekend.

The closest game of the week saw third placed Whangarei Girls' High School get a 3-0 win over fifth placed side Springfield on Friday.

The win extends the gap between fourth and fifth to show a clear top four emerging.

However the top four sides are all close and with fourth placed side Old Girls beating Parihaka 3-0, they remain just one competition point behind Girls' High.

Top side Maungakaramea had a good 5-1 win over Kamo High School earlier in the week but Hikurangi stay hot on their heels with a big 12-0 win over Mangapai.

In the reserve men's grade played on Thursday, Maungakaramea beat Springfield 3-1 to remain unbeaten on top of the table.

Hora Hora beat Bream Bay 4-1 to stay in third and Mangapai beat Whangarei Boys' High School 4-1 to keep hold of second spot.