HOCKEY - Hat-trick leaves no doubt about this Thorne in the side

Maungakaramea men's new recruit Mark Thorne proved invaluable in the Northern Premier men's hockey division, tallying up a hat-trick for his new team on the way to an 8-2 victory over Bream Bay United.
A former Mangapai player, Thorne made the shift to Maungakaramea because he could not commit to Mangapai for a full season as he was waiting to get a shoulder operation, Maungakaramea coach Dean Child said.
"He still wanted to play some hockey until he gets his operation so we took him on board," he said.
Along with stylish play from Thorne, the forwards and goal keeper Hayden Baker played exceptionally well on Saturday, Child said.
Bream Bay came out firing to score first, but then the Maungakaramea onslaught came and they dominated play until the final whistle - their unbeaten record this season remaining intact.
Springfield are Maungakaramea's closest rivals on the points table and went up against Mangapai on Saturday, who held off Springfield's challenge to win 3-1. Mangapai remain in third spot after round seven but are closing in on Springfield, trailing by only two points, with Bream Bay in the cellar.
Next weekend, the men have a double header, with Springfield and Maungakaramea playing at 1.50pm, and Bream Bay and Mangapai at 3.20pm on Saturday, followed by Bream Bay versus Springfield at 1.30pm, and Mangapai up against Maungakaramea at 3pm on Sunday.
In the Northern Premier women's competition, Whangarei Girls' High School boosted their hopes this season with their second victory over Hikurangi, winning 4-0.
Hikurangi shut WGHS out for the first 20 minutes of the match, but Grant McLeod's school girls' team came back at them and turned the game around.
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, Chelsea Beasley belted the first goal in, followed by a penalty corner from Samaria Tugaga and a field goal from Ariana Tugaga, leaving the school girls 3-0 up at the interval.
During the second stanza, WGHS had full control, much to Hikurangi's Vicki Gribble's horror. Her team has had only two wins this year.
Aimee Hayes hit the fourth and final goal of the game, with WGHS winning 4-0.
The other women's match featured Maungakaramea and Kamo High School, Maungakaramea won 3-1 while Whangarei Old Girls had the bye.
Next weekend in round 10 of the women's competition, fifth-placed Kamo face Hikurangi in fourth at 4.50pm and table leaders Old Girls are up against second-placed Maungakaramea at 6.20pm, and Girls' High, now in third have the bye but will play a deferred game against Kamo on Sunday at 12pm.
All games are at the ITM Rosvall Stadium.
Meanwhile, Northland age-group teams played Auckland sides at the weekend.
Northland under-18 girls lost 8-1 at Auckland, while the under-16 girls also lost 1-0 in Whangarei, as did Northland's under-16 boys, falling 6-1 to a tough Auckland contingent.
The under-16 development girls team drew 1-1.