Cobras strike with venom as club hockey nears playoffs

The Kings United Cobras have struck a massive blow heading into the Dunedin premier men’s hockey finals. They upset the Albany Alligators 4-2 at the McMillan Centre on Saturday. The Alligators looked like a side who had nothing to play for, and they played like it too, putting in comfortably their worst display of the season. Mason Kingan scored an early flick for Kings, and from there it was smooth sailing. Kingan grabbed his second on the end of a slick counter-attack in the second quarter, and the Alligators were left fairly shell-shocked. The title favourites managed to stem the bleeding in the third quarter, and Nic Finlayson put the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out, as it was deemed he hit it from outside the circle. At the start of the of the fourth quarter, the Alligators finally found a way back into the game, forcing a stroke which Finlayson was able to convert, but that was short lived. Off another counter, Max Braithwaite was able to restore the two-goal lead, before Angus Loe put it beyond doubt with a nice deflection. Jack Cotton added a consolation in the final seconds of the game. The Alligators still occupy top spot, but it is a massive wakeup call heading into the finals. Kings will see it as a welcome boost before a likely semifinal with the Taieri Tuataras. In the other premier men’s game, the Tuataras made hard work of it, but were able to push through for a 5-1 win over the University Panthers. Meanwhile, there were a couple of surprise results in the premier women’s competition. In the early game, the University Huskies avoided a level of embarrassment as they were held to a 0-0 draw with the University Stingrays. The Huskies were missing several key players, and it showed, as they nearly surrendered the shield to their club rivals. Overall, they will be pleased to have locked it up for the summer, but a shootout defeat will not help them in their fight for third on the table. That was not the biggest upset, though. The Taieri Tigers all but handed the Kings United Royals the points trophy with a stunning 2-2 draw against the City Highlanders. The Tigers raced out of the blocks with a quickfire double in the first quarter, leaving the Highlanders chasing the game. They eventually managed to pull it back level with five minutes remaining, but they failed to kick on to pick up the win. A shootout win keeps them mathematically in with a chance at the points trophy, though that is all it is. The Royals still had to put Momona away to take full advantage, and they duly did with a big 4-1 win on the back of a Nina Murphy brace. They look all but assured of the points trophy with a 32 goal swing required for them to relinquish top spot.