Bitter battle ends with anti climax

Midlands Hockey organisers couldn't have written a more anti-climactic ending to the tussle for third and fourth in this winter's men's competition.
With the rule book being pored over on the turf at Tauranga Hockey Centre, Mount Maunganui had already shaken hands with Rotorua Aces, the match locked in at 1-1 and the prospect of extra-time or penalty strokes hanging heavy.
Mount huddled as if discussing tactics, while Aces looked as if all the fight had left them.
Without so much as a whistle the umpires signalled for the next teams to take to the turf, ending what had been a gutsy 70 minutes in an anti-climax.
Mount started off on the front foot and showed Aces what they had to throw at them, but the Aces' defence were always quick to take control and shut them down. It was a first half of tag, possession changing teams every few seconds.
Neither had much chance at goal and it was only when Aces took too long to convert a penalty corner that Mount used their nous, cleared the ball up the field and Isaac Feeney deftly side-swiped goalkeeper Natana Waaka. Until then he had been rarely challenged.
That happened with moments to go in the first half and hit Aces full force, their energy sapped by the fast-flowing match and bereavements hanging over them like a dark cloud.
When the teams returned to the turf for a second bout of 35 minutes it was as if the match had just started - there was a lot of fire from both teams, one eager to equalise, the other wanting a safety net. Sticks were flying, players diving on to the turf and others were tripping over the opposition, their teammates or just themselves.
The stakes had risen and neither wanted to lose.
With about 15 minutes to go it looked as if Aces would have to be content with fourth but no one had told Tenga Rangitauira. He drove the ball from deep in defence up to the circle and around Mount defenders. He ignored calls to pass and took on Black Stick Hamish McGregor. It was a move that paid off to the delight of his team-mates and the travelling Aces' supporters.
"I'm proud of our team and the effort we put in this year," Aces captain Stephen Te Moni said afterwards. "It could have been a bit better but we've a few things on our minds with family bereavements, you can tell it brought our spirits down. We had a lot of pressure against us but we didn't do too bad. It was a gutsy performance and we had nothing to lose."
Rotorua Aces women had a similar predicament at Smallbone Park after finishing 3-3 at full-time against Te Awamutu.
Aroha Thompson of Aces said both teams thought they would share the spoils.
"But the ref was adamant we go to strokes," she said.
Aces held on to win 7-6.
Thompson said they were always confident of finishing strongly especially on the back of finishing third last season. "We'll be looking for the final next year.
"It was a very open game, we went up by a couple of goals but dropped off and let them come back in. We took our chances when we could, they had a few shots on goal but Tina [Bethell, goalkeeper] had a very good game."
The Rotorua Indians also had something to celebrate after upsetting a strong Suburbs-Piako team to end the season at ninth place and take the Intercity Plate. It was always going to be a tough game for the Indians, but as shown in the past few weeks, their ability to lift at crucial periods of the game would be something to watch out for.
Indians started off strongly and slotted in two goals in the first 10 minutes from Ameet Kumar and Jujhar Singh.
Suburbs quickly regained their composure and hit back with three quick goals.
Matt Dalton and Jayvant Dhanjee added to the Indians' scorecard and went into half-time locked in at 4-4.
Captain Bhavesh Sima said it was all one-way traffic in the second half as Indians stamped their authority with another goal each from Kumar and Singh.
"Discipline and patience in the circle was a key aspect that we brought to our game and it paid with a satisfying end to the season," Sima said.
RESULTS:
Premier Men: Cup: Thames Valley 2 Fraser Tech 1; For 3rd place: Mount Maunganui 1 Rotorua Aces 1 (Tenga Rangitauira); For 5th place: Waikato University 4 Hamilton Old Boys 1; For 7th place: Pukekohe Indians 7 Kohekohe 2; For 9th place: Rotorua Indians 6 (Ameet Kumar 2, Jujhar Singh 2, Matt Dalton, Jayvant Dhanjee) Suburbs Piako 4; For 11th place: Otumoetai 3, Onewhero-Pukekohe 3.
Premier Women: Cup: Otumoetai 4 Fraser Tech 2; For 3rd place: Rotorua Aces 3 Te Awamutu 3; For 5th place: Onewhero-Pukekohe 2 Waikato University 1; For 7th: Thames Valley 5 Hamilton Old Girls 2.