Hayden Shaw was welcomed back with open arms by his Canterbury teammates as they beat Southern 7-3 in yesterday's final first round game of the National Hockey League.
Shaw, who missed last season through European commitments, netted a hat-trick for the new-look Canterbury side. Cameron Hayde added two for the
winners while the brave southerners battled well throughout to score twice in the second spell after trailing 4-1 at the break.
There were plenty of goals in other men's games on Saturday with favoured Midlands and North Harbour both scoring six. They were upstaged by Wellington, however, who scored the biggest win of the round in thumping Central 7-1 in Palmerston North.
Midlands began the defence of the title they won in Auckland last season with a spirited 6-4 win over Auckland in a replay of last season's final. Black Stick Richard Petherick scored twice with drag flicks from penalty corners for Midlands with retired international Lloyd Stephenson also in the goal-scoring action.
Steven Davison scored twice for Auckland with Simon Childs and Hamish Baron adding the others as they came from 3-0 down at halftime.
North Harbour profited on their trip to Whangarei, scoring three in each half in beating Northland 6-1 to kick-start their campaign in style.
The North Harbour women scored an impressive 4-2 away win over Northland to begin the defence of their title.
Harbour scored twice in each half to make certain of the points from the young and promising Northland side.
In a minor surprise, the Auckland women, like their men later in the day, went down to Midlands in Hamilton.
Trailing by a goal at the break, Auckland conceded a second in the second spell to lose 2-0 to a Midlands side well led by Cathryn Finlayson and midfielders Gemma Flynn and Chloe Rogers. From their limited opportunities, Katie Glynn and Sam Harrison showed out for Auckland.
The strong Central side opened their bid in style with a 5-0 home win over Wellington as Kayla Sharland and Michaela Curtis led the charge in Palmerston North.
Canterbury, with six players on the scoresheet, beat Southern 6-0 in yesterday's early game in Dunedin.
The remaining matches in the league will be played in Christchurch over eight days from Saturday.
