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Graham Buchs, front centre, charges in.
by Jonathan Killick
After a stop and start season affected by successive lockdowns, the North Harbour winter club hockey finals were played on a scorching spring Saturday last month.
The Warkworth women’s team set the stage with a convincing 6-1 victory against Takapuna, taking the division two cup.
The women then joined supporters on the sidelines for the men’s match and provided exuberant commentary.
The men’s match was highly anticipated. Warkworth made the cup final after a tense semi-final against Albany Birkenhead Collegians, which came down to shootouts.
For the second year in a row, Warkworth then faced Takapuna to whom they narrowly lost last season.
Warkworth’s energy was immediately palpable on the pitch. The team went hard and dominated from the start – taking 3-0 lead in a highly charged first quarter.
In the second quarter, Takapuna managed to slip one past Warkworth, to make it 3-1 at half time.
By the third quarter, the midday sun was beating down, causing fatigue for both teams and no goals were scored.
The heat dried out the Tiger Turf pitch, which is usually kept wet, and made it much more slippery, causing players to stumble.
There were calls from the increasingly raucous crowd to pick up the energy, and in the fourth quarter Warkworth obliged.
Mike Leggoe rekindled the momentum, scoring for Warkworth and reviving enthusiasm.
Shortly afterwards, Warkworth scored another goal off a penalty corner shot.
Then Leggoe scored yet again to drive Warkworth’s dominance home. At the final siren, the score was 6-1 in Warkworth’s favour.
It was a far cry from last year’s final which was 0-0 at full time and came down to shootouts. Takapuna clinched the match by just one point.
Harbour Hockey has previously told teams that there will be no promotions or relegations this year, due to an erratic season dogged by Covid-19 disruptions.
However, all eyes are on Harbour Hockey to promote the Warkworth women’s team to division one anyway, following two consecutive seasons of convincing finals’ day victories.
