Whanganui boys and girls teams unbeaten in respective National U15 hockey championships

Whanganui boys co-captain Ben Havord helped guide his side to a semifinal berth at the U15 National Boys Hockey Championship in Dunedin. Photo / Sarah Gibson

Both the Whanganui boys and girls teams remain unbeaten and are guaranteed semi-final spots in their respective U15 National Hockey Championship tournaments.

Late on Tuesday boys dealt Canterbury B a blow in Dunedin winning 5-2 and followed that up with an excellent 4-nil victory over Wellington B on Wednesday to secure a semifinal berth.

The final pool play game for the Robbie Matthews-coached side against North Harbour Thursday will decide their seeding for the semifinal on Friday. Wanganui top Pool A on 12 points and North Harbour are second with eight.

Blake Hoskin scored two against Wellington B to take him to the top of the goal scoring leaderboard with nine, while Charlie Sutton sits second with seven. Nathan Cohen, who co-captains the side with Ben Havord, scored one as did Charnce Tangiiau.
Havord, Tangiiau and Connor Managh scored one apiece against Canterbury B, while Max Burrack slotted two.

The Whanganui girls head to the semifinals of their U15 National Girls Hockey Championship in Carterton. Photo / Suellen Macnab

The Whanganui lads are the defending champions of this tournament with six of the 16-strong squad backing up again this season.

Meanwhile, the Jan Dixon-coached girls team had a tough match against Poverty Bay on Wednesday that ended with a 1-all draw. The result left Whanganui second in Pool D with Poverty Bay have the better goal difference.

Five green cards (sin bin for 2mins) were dished out during the match. One to a Poverty Bay player in each half and three to Whanganui players, Nicole Parata, Charlotte Baker and Jane Abraham in the second spell.

Some confusion surrounded Whanaganui's goal with many thinking it was Baker when in fact, Parata was officially credited with the goal.

Whanganui now play Marlborough on Thursday for a semifinal spot.

Dixon said her side had a real shot at winning the championship if they continued playing as they did on Wednesday.