Coach reflects on Midlands' maiden title

CHAMPIONS: The Midlands women's side win their first National Hockey League title in North Harbour recently. PHOTO/SUPPLIED 030913MIDLANDS

Rotorua's Donna Keaney has already made quite an impression on the Midlands women's hockey team.

During her first season as head coach, the ex-Black Stick helped Midlands win their first national title since they joined the competition in 2006.

The team dismantled Capital 5-0 in the grand final during a week-long competition held in North Harbour two weeks ago.

"We played the most amazing final. We were up 3-0 within 15 minutes and ended up 5-0 winners," Keaney said.

Keaney, who lives on a farm just outside Rotorua, said it was her first year in charge of the national league side after working as assistant coach last year.

She said she loved being a part of hockey in Rotorua and the Midlands region, coaching for 20 years at various age group levels.

"We played some really good hockey at the national tournament," she said. "The way the girls came together and the intensity they played at was excellent."

To win the national tournament Midlands first had to make it through the round robin section in the eight-team competition.

They managed to beat North Harbour, Auckland, Southern, Northland and Central and lost to Capital and Canterbury, enough to earn them a spot in the semifinals.

Their semifinal match was against last year's champions, Canterbury, which Midlands won 2-1.

"It was a tight game. We had to fight for every inch. We scored with about six minutes to go and played that last six minutes really cleverly."

The rest was history, with the side winning the final against Capital in great fashion.

"It was easy on the heart," she said. "[The celebrations] were pretty big. We had a good time and won a massive trophy called the K-Cup."

Midlands boasted four Black Sticks during the tournament - Sam Charlton, Rose Keddel, Gemma Flynn, Sally Rutherford - and three Junior Black Sticks.

Keaney said she was looking forward to a break from hockey after travelling to Hamilton for trainings two or three times a week.

"It will be nice to take a bit of time at home."

The Midlands side represents Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Tauranga, Thames Valley and Waikato.

No Rotorua players were in the team.