Hockey: Springfield foils WGHS

Springfield's Kendyll Peters tries to shrug off Whangarei Girls' High School's Jade Litchfield and Katrina Howe.

Hardie and Thompson Springfield's premier women's team have made a good start to their finals run, holding off a combatant Whangarei Girls' High School (WGHS) 3-1 in the first stage of playoffs.

It was a nail biter from the get-go, and the WGHS scored first. However, Springfield flexed their dominance to level the game then creep toward the win in the closing stages.

"It was a bit of an arm wrestle," Springfield coach Grant McLeod said.

Whangarei Girls' High's Madi Doar and Claudia Squire celebrate their team's only goal.

"We never really felt confident with it - 3-1 in some ways was a bit flattering but it was a pretty tight game. We had a couple of chances to score, where we didn't, which put a bit of pressure on."

Happy with how his team of youngsters took on the experienced Springfield outfit, WGHS coach Alan Moscrip knew the match would run close after his side drew 2-all with Springfield the previous week.

"We started well for a change so we managed to get on the board. It was a good game of hockey from both teams to be fair, but Alana Millington was back for Springfield which obviously makes a big difference.

"They did as best they could and that's all you can ask when you're playing in a semifinal sort of situation."

WGHS will face another tough challenge in ChillTech Old Girls in this weekend's semifinal round. However Moscrip and his team aren't ready to start flying the white flags just yet.

"It's nil-all at the start. You haven't lost when the first whistle starts. We'll have a crack and see where we go from there," he said.

In the other semifinal this weekend, Springfield will go up against Maungakaramea.

With the return of Black Stick Ella Gunson, Maungakaramea disposed of Hikurangi 4-2 on Saturday and will prove a worthy challenger in the final if they can get past Springfield.

"We'll stick to our game plan. We've got some good coverage across the field and a reasonably well-balanced side so we'll just keep doing what we've doing all year," McLeod said.

ChillTech Old Girls' win was more convincing, demolishing Echnorth Mangapai 10-0.

Going in clear favourites, the Alan Lints-trained outfit proved a handful for the young Mangapai team, who were outdone by the pace and skill of the Old Girls side.

In the premier men's semifinals, Bream Bay United's season is over after losing 5-4 to Morris & Morris Mangapai, while title favourites Maungakaramea took down Currie Electrical Springfield, 3-1. Mangapai will face Springfield in a preliminary final this weekend to determine who plays Maungakaramea in the final on August 22.