Five of a Central mind

The Whanganui players, all students from WHS, selected to play for the Central teams at the national under 18 tournament. Emma Rainey, left, Joanna Bell, Joseph Redpath, Ryan Gray, Jordan Cohen.

Five Wanganui hockey players were in the thick of the action as their Central Under 18 team's played very well at the National tournament in Palmerston North last week.

Emma Rainey and Joanna Bell were in the Central U18 women's team who finished second to the dominant Auckland side after a tight final on Saturday at the Twin Turfs, losing the shootout 3-1 after the game was tied 3-3 at fulltime.

Joseph Redpath, Ryan Gray, and Jordan Cohen were in the Central men's team who finished fourth after losing 3-1 in the bronze medal game to Auckland.

Rainey, a New Zealand U19 rep, had a very good tournament with six goals, tied for second most in the women's competition.

Drawn in Pool A alongside Auckland, Central started with a 5-2 loss, but then won their remaining matches against North Harbour (5-2), Northland (6-2), Canterbury (6-3) and Capital (5-4).

Rainey scored in each of those games, including twice against Northland, with three penalty corners and two field goals.

That put Central into the final for the rematch with Auckland, and after being down 1-0 at halftime, they came back to tie the match 3-3 at the end of regulation, with Rainey scoring off a penalty corner in the 49th minute.

The match went to a shootout, but Rainey could not connect with the team's third attempt, as after getting their first goal Central missed the next three tries, whereas Auckland got three from five to make it home.

In the men's draw, Central started with a 4-1 win over Northland, with Gray scoring a 26th minute field goal while Cohen added a penalty corner in the 60th minute.

Central then lost to Canterbury 5-3 in the shoot out after being tied 1-1 at fulltime, with Gray unable to connect on his turn.

They were hammered 6-1 by Auckland, before a narrow 3-2 defeat to Midlands, where Gray's 66th minute goal narrowed the gap.

A 5-2 win over North Harbour got Central into the bronze medal match with Auckland, where despite a much improved effort on their last clash, the Aucklanders still prevailed 3-1.

Hockey Wanganui operations manager Kylie Penn watched the games on Friday and said Rainey was in good form, while Cohen continues to show a lot of promise.

"There's people talking that he'd go all the way [to national honours].

"He's another Emma, up and coming."

The players will now return to their senior Manawatu competitions, which were on a break at the weekend to make way for the national tournament.

The combined Whanganui women's team will play College Development at Gonville Domain, while the Tech College Old Boy's men travel to the Twin Turfs to meet Palmerston North Boys High School, with both games starting at 1.30pm.

(Wanganui Chronicle 18/7/16)