INLINE SKATING - Northern attitude nails it in Oceania

Four Northland teenagers helped return the Tasman Cup to its "rightful" home recently at the annual Oceania In-Line hockey tournament between Australia and New Zealand.
The five-day international event was held in Palmerston North in the first week of the school holidays and saw Aussie and Kiwi teams contest eight inline divisions from 14 and under through to masters for men including junior and senior women's grades.
Each grade played five games against their Australian counterparts. New Zealand won seven of the eight grades - an excellent turnaround from last year's performance - when New Zealand only took two of the grades.
The Northland representatives were Grace Niblock in the junior women's grade and Levi Munro, Luke Bowring and Ashley Peters in the 14 and under grade.
The tournament started with a bit of a setback for Niblock after she was handed a penalty for roughing up one of the Australian players shortly after the start of the first game.
The Australian girls capitalised on Niblock's time in the penalty bin to score the first goal.
This advantage was shortlived however, with Niblock scoring an equaliser during her second shift on the rink. The New Zealand girls went on to dominate, winning the game 5-1.
The two teams faced off against each other later the same day and the Kiwis came away with another win, three goals to one, after a game where the Australian girls were dominated by fast and accurate team play by the New Zealanders.
The 14 and Under grade, led by their captain Levi Munro, also completed the first day with two wins, although the Australian boys forced both games into sudden death overtime.
The three Northland boys were joined by an Auckland player to form the team's first line, which was instrumental in scoring goals.
Success on the first day had set up a gold medal game for both teams, and the spectators were not disappointed with the Junior Women winning 4-2 and the 14 and Under boys 3-2.
The winning goal for the 14 and Under boys came near the end of the fourth quarter of the game when Peters slipped a pass across the face of the Australian goal to Aucklander Sam Hill, who put the puck into the back of the net and secured the win.
The 14 and Under boys went on to win all five games by a single goal in each game, which made for exciting games as the two teams tried to force an advantage for their country.
The Northland players contributed significantly to their team's achievement.
Munro scored two goals and assisted three others, Bowring clocked up one goal and one assist and Peters scored two goals and assisted the gold medal winning goal.
Niblock, who also played in the Junior Women's first line, scored one goal and assisted three others.
All four players are members of the Northern Stingrays under-16 team, who are the current national champions, won the annual Bauer Cup U-16 grade in Auckland at Easter and have not conceded a game since July 2007.