Hockey: Springfield pile 10 on hapless Mangapai

Jade McLeod. Photo / File

A hat-trick from Jade McLeod helped her Springfield side beat Mangapai 10-0 in their premier women's hockey match.

It was a one-sided affair with the top-of-the-table side using the match against the competition battlers to work on their defensive structure.

Springfield coach Grant McLeod said he wanted his side to work on screening in defence and building on attack and was mostly happy with the way they did that in the Friday night game.

"It was actually quite a tough game and was hard to stay focused," he said, adding "structurally it was ok but we fell into the trap of being too individual rather than keeping the pass rate up."

Four goals in the first quarter of the match set the tone for the rest of the Friday night game as Springfield showed they will be a real threat this season.

McLeod was happy he got to give his younger players a bit more experience saying "it is an opportunity to give them more game time and get them comfortable".

The win keeps Springfield atop the table but McLeod will be wanting his side to all be on top of their games for next week's clash with second-placed Old Girls, with the winner taking the advantage into round two of competition.

Old Girls also had the chance to hone their skills and game plan on Sunday and they made sure they took full advantage of it.

Taking on Hikurangi, they combined hard defence and clinical offence to take the match 5-1.

The premier men's competition threw up two contrasting yet high-scoring matches.

Maungakaramea were on fire on attack, scoring six goals on their way to a 6-2 drubbing of Bream Bay.

Meanwhile Whangarei Boys' High School and Mangapai put up a pair of defiant performances, but neither could be split as they drew 3-all.