The NZ Hockey League finals held at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland over the weekend provided some scintillating hockey.

Form books were turned upside down when both 3rd and 4th qualifiers toppled their more fancied opponents in the women's semis and the men's semi finals required sudden death extra time to decide the finalists.

The crowd got full value when North Harbour men prevailed over Auckland 8-6 after penalty strokes were needed to separate the sides after being locked up 2 all after two periods of extra time. In the other semi Canterbury prevailed 3-2 over last years champions Wellington in the first period of extra time. Harbour repeated their pool play thrashing of Canterbury in winning the final 5-1 belying the evenness of the top four men's sides. David Kosoof won the goal scoring battle over Canterbury's Dutch international import Taeke Taekema in scoring four goals in the final for a total of 19 goals.

In the women's semis some were surprised that Central and Wellington prevailed over the more fancied Canterbury and North Harbour teams, but coaching played a big part in their wins. An experienced Central side had Black Sticks assistant Chris Leslie at the helm and the vastly inexperienced defending champions Wellington had former Black Sticks coach Paul Ackerley. Wellington welcomed the return of Suzie Muirhead to upstage North Harbour 4-2 with Niniwa Roberts-Lang clinical at PC time to score a hat trick. Central defeated Canterbury 3-2 with former Black Stick Moira Senior and current Black Stick Kayla Sharland dominating. Central's greater experience showed in the final in easily dispatching Wellington 3-1 to take their first title.


The news was not good for Midland supporters with both sides struggling to find scoring form in Saturday’s games, the men losing 0-3 to Southern and the women 1-5 to Auckland. They saved their best for last on Sunday though, with the women finally playing as a unit in turning the tables on Southern with an extra time 2-1 win.

The men regained composure around the circle and shared the scoring in a convincing 5-2 demolition of Northland. Both sides finished a disappointing 7th but the women have not been part of the NZHL for the past two years and will have gained invaluable experience. The men have classy up and coming youngsters, Sandeep Puna, Richard Petherick, and Tim Smith who were all rewarded with NZ Under 21 trial places and Jonny Forbes and Matt Luxford gained valuable experience this year.