The City Highlanders are gunning for the Otago premier women’s title after their 4-1 win over the University Huskies on Saturday.
Their victory, putting them straight through to the final, showed the Highlanders’ class as they played the game at a faster pace than the Huskies.
Despite their best efforts, the Huskies could not settle into the game and get on top of the Highlanders’ plan.
Chloe Donaldson capitalised on the Highlanders’ dominant attack, finding the back of the net three times, while Billie Crowe also scored for the Highlanders.
Claudia Roberts was the only scorer for the Huskies.
The University Huskies will now face the Taieri Tigers in a midweek clash for a spot in the final.
Taieri rallied late to knock out Momona in a shootout victory.
Momona scored first through Sarah Johnstone and looked to be well in control of the game.
With less than five minutes to go, it looked as though Taieri were not going to be able to draw level and force the game to a shootout.
A late penalty corner opportunity gave the Tigers some hope. A strong strike from Bex Clementson at the top of the circle and an unlucky touch from a Momona defender saw the ball in the back of the goal, levelling the score at 1-1.
Neither side was able to score again in the dying minutes, sending the game to a shootout.
Taieri won the shootout 2-1 to get into the midweek elimination final against the University Huskies.
The University Stingrays played the Kings United women in the fifth-sixth playoff.
Kings were expected to get the better of the Stingrays given their results throughout the season, but neither side could find a goal.
The Stingrays won the shootout to claim fifth place for the season.
The Taieri Tuataras put on a dominant performance against the Kings United men, winning 3-1 to secure a place in the men’s final.
The Tuataras continued their fine form as they established themselves in the game early and maintained possession.
James Nicolson scored twice for the Tuataras, once from the field and the other a penalty corner. Jordan Ward also converted a penalty corner for the Tuataras.
Rory McLean scored Kings’ only goal.
Kings will play the University Whales in the midweek elimination game for a spot in the final.
The Whales got the better of the Albany Alligators in a shootout to progress to the elimination game.
The two sides could not be separated in regulation with both teams scoring but unable to find an edge.
The Whales got the better of the Alligators in the shootout when Felix McIntosh could not keep the Alligators in the game any longer.
Captain Nick Parata scored for the Alligators, while Jakob Bell-Kake scored for the Whales.
Tainui got the better of the University Panthers in their fight for fifth and sixth with a 3-1 win.
Nick Dalziel scored twice to give Tainui an early edge, but the Panthers came back with a goal of their own through Dante Vannini.
It was not enough as Tainui scored again through Jacob Smith to put the game well out of reach for the Panthers.
— Grace Milne
