Marist Senior Men take out 2017 National Title
Marist Senior Men defeated North Harbour Senior Men 8 – 6, to take away the 2017 Senior Men’s National League Championship.
Marist came out firing in the opening quarter, shooting out to a 4 – 0 lead.
Matt Small opened the scoring off the first 6 on 5 of the game, 32 mins into the game. The lead was extended to 2, when Liam Paterson noticed that the North Harbour goalie wasn’t giving his arm the respect it deserved and fired one in from way down town.
Fabian Wanrooij scored from a 6 on 5, with 3:38 left in the quarter, before Matt Lewis got into the act 30secs later, with his first of the game.
If things were all Marist in the 1st, the 2nd was all North Harbour, as they gave their fans something to cheer about, finding the back of the net 5 times before Matt Small put a cork in it with his second to even the game up for the half 5 – 5.
The 3rd quarter was a tight affair with both sides not willing to give the other an edge. The quarter ended with 1 lone goal to Marist’s Ryan Pike. Marist 6 – North Harbour 5.
The first 2 mins of the 4th again turned out to be tight with neither team willing to give an inch before Matt Lewis added his 2nd of the game to take Marist out to an important 2 point lead, 5 – 7. North Harbour, not willing to accept defeat yet, pulled themselves back into the game, scoring to be one behind 6 – 7, with 3 mins left on the clock.
The experienced Richard Chambers sensing the danger and hunting another National title quickly restored the 2 point advantage, with a “magic” move in the hole the very next play to all but end the game.
Marist controlled their remaining time with the ball and played strong defence to closed out remaining two and half minutes. Marist 8 – North Harbour 6.
The title was just reward for Marist who had worked hard all season and also won the minor National League title.
The 2017 title was Marist Coach Reza Soleimane’s second successive title after also coaching the 2013 Marist Senior Men to Gold.