Tech College Old Boys coach Langley Atkinson will be putting in a formal protest to Hockey Manawatu in the aftermath of their 4-1 loss to the table-topping Massey on Saturday.
The challenge could have a major bearing on who plays who in the Manawatu league semifinals on July 27 and could lead to quite a grudge match if Massey still line up against fourth-placed TCOB as scheduled.
Atkinson said their protest was over the presence of an under-18 goalkeeper for Massey who he did not believe was registered for the club.
"A little birdy whispered to me, someone told me he shouldn't be there.
"Every other team has to find numbers from their 'B' side, certainly not an outsider.
"I don't think it's right they do that I've had to concede points before for doing that, they should be done the same way."
Going into the match, TCOB just needed to avoid a hiding to make the semifinals ahead of fifth placed Marist, who beat an under-strength Palmerston North Boys High School 5-3.
Despite getting through on a superior goal difference, Atkinson said they had planned for a better performance against Massey, so he was disappointed when they went 2-0 down early on.
"We'd clearly discussed in our game plan we were going to man-on-man defence."
TCOB's focus was not right and they were run off their feet by a mentally sharper Massey in the opening exchanges, he said.
Later on, the match settled into a more protracted arm wrestle. Massey scored again in the second half, while TCOB were unlucky to have a goal disallowed after their attempt from a penalty corner nicked the foot of a defender.
Massey got their fourth goal before TCOB striker Martin Atkinson got a consolation score back for the visitors.
Langley Atkinson said Massey always started on all four cylinders and his team had not played enough of that style to combat it.
In a gap week because of the number of players away at regional representative tournaments, TCOB will play a friendly match against College this weekend before the semifinals.
Rangers had a good start in their final home game against MCOB on Saturday, but sustaining that momentum was the problem at Gonville Domain in their 5-2 loss.
Goal scorers were Logan Anderson and Lee Moir as Rangers had a great start with a breakaway goal inside the opening five minutes, before conceeding their advantage to a field goal moments later.
A good strike saw Rangers go ahead again before a series of penalty attempts saw MCOB break through, as the visitors created more chances in Rangers' circle. It all went pear-shaped in the second half as MCOB put in three unanswered goals.
Rangers manager Bryce Balsley said the slow pace of the game did not suit them as for the third week in a row they experienced a drop in intensity at key points.
"I thought we'd got over that, but obviously not."
In the women's competition, TCOB learned they made history without another game needing to be played as fifth-placed HSHC Evergreens ended up defaulting to HSHC on Saturday.
That means TCOB's final round robin match with College will be a dead rubber as 'Techno' have confirmed a semifinal appearance in their first year of existence.
"I'm absolutely thrilled and we have a big, big challenge ahead," said manager Ian Glenny.
Techno and Evergreens have the same number of season wins, but two draws early in the competition were enough to see the Wanganui team through.
HSHC and Massey, finishing first and second, were well ahead of the chasing pack, including Techno and the other semifinalist College.
TCOB will face HSHC in their semifinal on July 27.