Premier 1 Women
Hutt United won their first Premier 1 title as a combined club with a heart-stopping shoot-out victory over Northern United on Saturday afternoon. Amy Robinson put them ahead from a penalty corner after three minutes and they led 3-1 at the end of an action-packed first quarter. Hutt United came back to level the scores with two goals in the second. There were no goals in the second half, played in persistent light rain, although both teams had clear scoring chances thwarted by at time desperate defence. Late in the fourth quarter Northern had two chances to take the lead from penalty corners, being awarded a penalty stroke following the second of these. After protests from the Hutt players and discussion between the umpires this was overruled and the teams proceeded to a shoot-out to determine the winner. After five attempts the shoot-out score stood at 3-3 and sudden death rules applied. Both teams were successful at their sixth attempts, but a good save from Hutt goalkeeper Danni Deans, kept out Northern’s seventh. Hutt’s Jess Kelly then made no mistake with her attempt, to the delight of her teammates, coach Ali McIntyre and Hutt United’s anxious, but jubilant supporters.
Dalefield looked full of running to beat Harbour City and avenge their defeat of a fortnight ago at Clareville, to finish in third place. They were up by three goals before Harbour scored, and it could have been closer with Dalefield goalkeeper Amy Rossiter-Stead doing well to save a Harbour penalty stroke soon afterwards.
Victoria had scored only five goals all season, but they put that behind them to surprise Karori in the play-off for fifth. Karori scored after five minutes of the second quarter, but Vic drew level from a penalty corner late in the third quarter, then knocked in what proved to be the winner with ten minutes to play.
Results
Final
Hutt United 3 (Ani Haumaha, Laura Jurgeleit, Imogen Neil) Northern United 3 (Amy Robinson 2, Georgia Garden-Bachop)
Shoot out
Hutt United 5 (Jess Kelly 2, Maddy Story 2, Kat Winter)
Northern United 4 (Estelle Macadre 2, Sophie Macadre, Annie McNaughtan)
Third/fourth play-off
Dalefield 3 (Brigette Mossman, Maddie Taylor, Reece Robertson) Harbour City 1 (Victoria O’Keeffe)
Fifth/sixth play-off
Victoria 2 (Alana Topping, Becs Jenkins) Karori 1 (Emma Ireland)
Toa had the bye and finish in seventh place.
Premier 1 Men
Wellington Indians survived some nervous moments before securing their first title since 2014 in a gripping encounter with Hutt United. Slight underdogs before the game, they looked sharp from the outset of the final which was played in clear, dry weather. Hutt absorbed the early pressure and scored first from a penalty corner. Indians replied from a penalty corner of their own, then scored two outstanding field -goals to Sajan Patel and Aqshai Lala, to lead at the half-time break. A scrambled goal soon after the resumption extended Indians’ lead and while they had the better scoring chances, they could not add to that. Hutt came out with plenty of intent for the fourth quarter and forced a series of penalty corners. Two of these were successful to draw them within one goal as the minutes ticked away. The game ended with Hutt United unable to score from two penalty corners in succession and Indians could celebrate with their relieved coach Hemant Lala and their large group of supporters who added much to the atmosphere of the fixture.
Dalefield made no race of the playoff for third, trouncing Harbour City, with Black Stick Dane Lett scoring twice, and the competition’s top goal-scorer Rowan Yeo once.
Victoria could not repeat their earlier goal-scoring exploits against a resurgent Northern United, but did enough to beat them for a third time and they finished in fifth place.
Results
Indians 4 (Vivek Lala, Sajan Patel, Aqshai Lala, Kailin Dayal) Hutt United 3 (Callum Olsen 2, Angus Bowmar)
Dalefield 4 (Dane Lett 2, Rowan Yeo, Alex Sumenko-Bucknell) Harbour City 0
Victoria 1 (Ben Sarikaya) Northern United 0
Tawa Titans had the bye and finish in seventh place.
Premier 2 Women
Upper Hutt gained a bonus point in their big win over Karori on Sunday morning at Fraser Park, with Georgia Lloyd scoring five goals. Leaders Hutt United tipped over Tawa Titans in the following game at Fraser Park. On McDonald’s Newtown NHS 2 Victoria 2 did well to edge Harbour City, before Kapiti held out Victoria 3, to remain second equal.
Upper Hutt 6 (Georgia Lloyd 5, Lily Candy) Karori 0
Hutt United 3 (Sophie Tennent, Amy Murray, Jordan McGarvey) Tawa Titans 1
Victoria 2 5 (Caitlin de Reeper 2, Brooke Farmer, Cat Myhill, Christina O’Connor) Harbour City 4 (Erin Muxlow 2, Karmina Kovanda)
Kapiti 3 (Ella Mullane, Seini Denicaucau) Victoria 3 0
Points after twelve rounds
Hutt United 35, Victoria 2 26, Kapiti 26, Upper Hutt 21, Harbour City 17, Tawa Titans 14, Karori 9, Victoria 3 0
Games on 28 August
Victoria 2 v Victoria 3 11:00am Cello NHS 1Fraser Park
Hutt United v Karori 12:30pm Fraser Park
Harbour City v Upper Hutt 12:45pm Cello NHS 1
Kapiti v Tawa Titans 1:15pm Mazengarb Park
Premier 2 Men
Karori had a comfortable win over Victoria in the early game on Cello NHS 1 and they move into third place. Northern United upset second-placed Upper Hutt by the same margin in the following game, while at Fraser Park front-runners Hutt United came out on top of a mostly even encounter with Kapiti.
Karori 5 (Sam Stannard 2, Logan McDonald, Andrew Miles, Travis Speakman) Victoria 1
Northern United 4 (Zion Akonga 2, Matt Croxford, Aaron Clulow) Upper Hutt 0
Hutt United 4 (Thomas Langley 2, Robbie Burgess, Jimmy Cavanaugh) Kapiti 2 (Matty Prentice, Daniel Boderick)
Points after twelve rounds: Hutt United 34, Upper Hutt 20, Karori 19, Kapiti 17, Northern United 17, Victoria 1.
Games on 28 August
Northern United v Hutt United 1:00pm McDonald’s Newtown NHS 2
Upper Hutt v Karori 2:15pm Fraser Park
Kapiti v Victoria 2:45pm McDonald’s Newtown NHS 2
Premier 3 Women
Results
Victoria 3 (Abi Houghton, Lilly-Belle James, Jessica Wylie) Northern United 3 0
Northern United 2 6 (Caitlin Olsen, Leah Bakker, Sarah Neilson, Allanah Andrews, Olivia Burn, Emily Agate) Naenae 0
Toa 4 (Asha O’Gorman, Jade Obeda, Phoenix O’Gorman, Arihia Paea) Kapiti 2 1
Harbour City 6 (Lauryn Hill 2, Rianna Maxwell 2) Upper Hutt 1 (Cat Hamlin)
Hutt United 0 Kapiti 3 0
Indians had the bye)
Points: Northern United 2 4, Harbour City 4, Toa 3, Victoria 3, Kapiti 3 1, Hutt United 1, Upper Hutt 0, Northern United 3 0, Kapiti 2 0. Indians 0, Naenae 0
Premier 3 Men
Results
Karori 4 (James Sinclair, George Webb, Lance Hope, Sam Stannard) Upper Hutt 0
Tawa Titans 6 (Gareth Beaumont 2, Jordan Allan, Jack Hawkey, Chris McDonald, Duane West) Harbour City0
Victoria 4 6 (Simon Rae 2, Damian Broadley, Kether Gati, Rob Bicknell) Victoria 3 6
Indians 2 4 (Shakeel Dahya 2, Parimal Patel, Hiran Patel) Indians 3 1
Petone Tuis 3 Northern United 1
Hutt United had the bye
Points: Tawa Titans 4, Indians 2 3, Petone Tuis 3, Karori 3, Victoria 3 1, Victoria 4 1, Upper Hutt 0, Northern United 3 0, Indians 3 0, Harbour City 0, Hutt United 0