Northland premier hockey: Scoring frenzy earns Maungakaramea the win

Maungakaramea player Bronson Baker's goal from a penalty corner in the second quarter helped his side claim the win against Springfield on Saturday. Photo / File

A first-quarter blitz propelled Maungakaramea to their first win of the season when they beat Springfield 4-2 in their third round premier men's hockey match on Saturday.

Maungakaramea player-coach Sam Webb said they were trying a new game plan and it worked well early in the match when Aaron Cronin sent a stunning strike into the side netting.

"We changed our structure a little bit this week and we tried to focus on that, and we knew if the boys could do that right then hopefully the results would come," Webb said.

When Craig Gibson was able to tap the ball in from close range midway through the first quarter, it kicked off a flurry of goals within a few minutes.

Springfield quickly returned fire when a reverse stick shot flew past the keeper, but less than a minute later, Maungakaramea regained their two-goal lead when Gibson scored his second.

Maungakaramea extended their lead in the second quarter when Bronson Baker converted a penalty corner before the pace of the game slowed in the second half and Webb admitted his side ran out of legs.

"As we got tired, the structure fell apart a little bit and we went back to the old style of hockey," Webb said.

Springfield had a few more chances late in the game and got one back on the stroke of fulltime when they converted a penalty corner chance.

In the other premier men's match, a hattrick of penalty corner drag flick goals from Luther Cronin helped Mangapai to a 3-1 win over Bream Bay United.

In the premier women's matches, Springfield continued their unbeaten season with a 2-1 win over Old Girls on Saturday while Maungakaramea beat Hikurangi 3-0 on Friday night.