The North Harbour Men snatched a 4-3 win over hosts Capital Cobras in a thrilling match on opening day at the Ford National Hockey League in Wellington.
Both sides were locked up 1-1 in a closely fought first half before the game opened up throughout the second half.
Capital ran
out to a 3-1 buffer at the end of the third quarter but Harbour fought back and poured on three goals in the fourth quarter to take the result.
Cory Bennett featured with a double from penalty corner drag flicks while Robbie Capizzi and Matt Symonds also found the back of the net.
Last years runners up the Canterbury Cavaliers secured an emphatic 10-1 result over Northland fuelled by a four-goal bag from striker Sam Lane.
The Cavaliers led from start to finish with Lanes efforts added to with a hat-trick from Dominic Newman while Cam Hayde, Declan Keaney and David Brydon also netted.
Auckland were impressive as they warded off the Central Mavericks 3-0 in a good display of structured attacking hockey.
The blue and whites scored two goals from penalty corners through brothers Arun and Jared Panchia while Michael Ritchie netted from the field 10 minutes out from fulltime.
The Southern Dogs closed out the final mens fixture of the day after downing Midlands 2-1 in cold and wet conditions. Both sides traded goals in the opening two minutes before Nick Ross scored the deciding blow in the 35th minute.
In womens games on day one, defending champions the Canterbury Cats came away with a 3-0 victory against the Southern Storm.
The Cats drew first blood thanks to an early field goal from striker Rachel McCann with the remainder of the first half a tough defensive battle.
Canterbury showed their class with a great patch of play in the third quarter with goals from Emily Wium and Bridget Kiddle sealing four tournament points.
Northland managed to snatch a 3-2 win over Midlands after Stacey Michelsen delivered the winning goal with just four minutes to go in the match.
Much of the clash had been a deadlock between the two sides with Tyler Lench and Ashlyn McBurnie adding to Michelsens goal for Northland and Gemma McCaw and Shiloh Gloyn on the score sheet for Midlands.
Auckland Women held on for a 2-0 win against hosts Capital with a goal in each half to kick off their campaign on a positive note.
Phoebe Steele opened the scoring for Auckland before Lulu Tuilotolava iced the result with a 41st minute strike.
North Harbour grabbed a 3-1 shoot-out result after going into fulltime tied 1-1 with the Central Mysticks. Emma Rainey provided Centrals lone goal in the first quarter while Steph Dickins scored for Harbour in the 18th minute.
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FORD NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE RESULTS
Saturday 16th September
MENS RESULTS
Canterbury Cavaliers beat printing.com Northland 10-1
Canterbury Cavaliers: 10 (Sam Lane 4, Dominic Newman 3, Cam Hayde, Declan Keaney, David Brydon)
printing.com Northland: 1 (Nathan Fouhy)
Halftime: Canterbury 3-0
Auckland beat Central Mavericks 3-0
Auckland: 3 (Arun Panchia, Jared Panchia, Michael Ritchie)
Central Mavericks: 0
Halftime: Auckland 1-0
TigerTurf North Harbour beat RICOH Capital Cobras 4-3
TigerTurf North Harbour: 4 (Cory Bennett 2, Robbie Capizzi, Matt Symonds)
RICOH Capital Cobras: 3 (Sam Miskimmin 2, Sebastian Buddle)
Halftime: 1-1
Southern Dogs beat Bayleys Midlands 2-1
Southern Dogs: 2 (Nathan Gilbert, Nick Ross)
Bayleys Midlands: 1 (Andy Hayward)
Halftime: 1-1
WOMENS RESULTS
Auckland beat RICOH Capital 2-0
Auckland: 2 (Phoebe Steele, Lulu Tuilotolava)
RICOH Capital: 0
Halftime: Auckland 1-0
Canterbury Cats beat Southern Storm 3-0
Canterbury Cats: 3 (Rachel McCann, Emily Wium, Bridget Kiddle)
Southern Storm: 0
Halftime: Canterbury 1-0
Mark Cromie Holden Northland beat Bayleys Midlands 3-2
Mark Cromie Northland: 3 (Tyler Lench, Ashlyn McBurnie, Stacey Michelsen)
Bayleys Midlands: 2 (Gemma McCaw, Shiloh Gloyn)
Halftime: 2-2
TigerTurf North Harbour beat Central Mysticks 3-1 in shoot-out (tied 1-1 at fulltime)
TigerTurf North Harbour: 1 (Steph Dickins)
Central Mysticks: 1 (Emma Rainey)
Halftime: 1-1
- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ
Harbour headline opening day at Ford NHL
The North Harbour Men snatched a 4-3 win over hosts Capital Cobras in a thrilling match on opening day at the Ford National Hockey League in Wellington.
Both sides were locked up 1-1 in a closely fought first half before the game opened up throughout the second half.
Capital ran
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