Harbour win under-15 boys’ hockey crown
North Harbour have beaten Bay of Plenty 2-0 to claim the national under-15 premier boys hockey title in Nelson.
The two teams had turned all square after a scoreless first half in wet conditions at Nelson’s Saxton Turf on Saturday.
Howewver, late goals to captain Aiden Fraser and Jarryd Russell eventually sealed a deserved victory to North Harbour.
The win maintained their unbeaten run for the week.
North Harbour had advanced to the final following a 2-0 semifinal win over Waikato on Friday.
Bay of Plenty had comfortably beaten Canterbury 6-1 in the other semifinal.
Waikato wrapped up third place with a 6-5 win over Canterbury after the scores had been tied 1-1 at halftime.
Hosts Nelson have avoided the wooden spoon after picking up a satisfying 5-2 win over Taranaki.
Nelson finally secured their first win of the week-long tournament after establishing a handy 3-0 lead at the break.
Zach Moffat, captain Lachlan Rushbrooke and Marshall Hore contributed first half goals, leaving Moffat and Izaak Mirfin to complete the second half scoring.
Captain Lachlan Hanser scored both of Taranaki’s second half goals.
Meanwhile, Nelson have finished with the wooden spoon at the national under-15 girls’ tournament in North Harbour.
They lost 1-0 to Bay of Plenty in the playoff for 15th and 16th.
Canterbury beat host team North Harbour 1-0 in the final to deny them a rare double.