Festival sees nine finals on programme

SHUT THEM DOWN: Old Girls will look to defend well in their Premier final against Whangarei Girls High School. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Traditionally a day with a festival atmosphere and a dress-up party feel, finals day at Hockey Northland will be a lot more serious for some teams, at least up until the final whistle.

It is set to be a day of intense rivalries between rapturous supporters as all nine senior grades play their finals on the same afternoon at Whangarei's centre of hockey.

The premier men's final sees arguably the greatest rivals face off, with defending champions Maungakaramea taking on Springfield.

Maungakaramea has the edge over their opponents this season, winning four out of the five matches between them, and player-coach Sam Webb is confident his team can continue the trend, provided they can remain composed.

"It's about just not panicking," Webb said.

"We need to keep hitting the ball around and the result will come," he said.

In the premier women's final, Old Girls face off against Whangarei Girls' High School, the only team to have beaten them this year.

Old Girls coach Alan Lints admits Girls' High play a faster game than their other rivals in the competition but knows what they're going to do.

"The plan is to get a good basic structure that doesn't allow them to run at us," he said.

Lints also highlighted the importance of scoring goals when they had their opportunities, saying that can make all the difference.

Old Girls come into the final the form team, winning 10 on the trot since their second round loss to Girls' High.

Senior finals day hits off at noon today with the women's premier final at 4.30pm and the premier men under way at 6pm.