Otago claims first national title

You could pick out half a dozen moments to neatly sum up Otago’s historic title win.

Dylan Thomas’ opening goal was not bad.

The ball popped up and he swatted it baseball-style into the net.

Finn Ward’s goal was quite breathtaking. He robbed an opponent, charged into the circle and sent the ball hurtling towards the goal. The goalie got a pad on it but it dribbled in.

Big brother Jordan Ward dragged in a penalty corner with expert precision to make it 3-0.

Then there was the movement containing four or five pinpoint passes that ended with Craig Turner deflecting a cross into the net.

Otago was up 4-0 in the tier 1 men’s final, and held on to win 4-2 at the McMillan Centre on Saturday.

Wellington substituted its goalie late in the third quarter and spent pretty much the entire final 15 minutes camped deep in Otago’s half.

The resolve the home side showed to go on and claim its first senior men’s title was mind-boggling.

But perhaps the most memorable moment came after the final whistle.

Veteran Otago coach Dave Ross can be a reserved character, and is not usually given to moments of high exuberance.

But he took a spot at the edge of the team photo and punched the air harder than anyone else.

He was delighted and he had earned every ounce of effort he put into that celebration.

Ross led a very talented Southern side, in the now defunct National Hockey League, that came painstakingly close to securing a maiden national title for the region.

The Dogs lost 2-1 to Auckland in the 2012 final. They returned the next season with hardened resolve, but were beaten 4-3 in the shootout by the same opponent.

That was tough enough, but they suffered the same fate in 2015, losing to Capital in a shootout.

(Clockwise from left:) Otago coach Dave Ross congratulates his son Nick after their win against Wellington in the finals of the national hockey championship in Dunedin on Saturday; Otago's Connor Hoskin has Wellington's Graeme Murrell breathing down his neck; Finn Ward celebrates his goal as Wellington goalie Max Ruffell cannot quite believe his eyes; Kieran O'Connor at full stretch. PHOTOS: GERARD O'BRIEN

"It has been a long time coming," Ross told the Otago Daily Times.

"We’ve been in a lot of finals and that was with Blair [Tarrant], Kane [Russell] and Hugo [Inglis] and so forth. We had some real names.

"But, in actual fact, while we had some outstanding individuals, this is probably the more cohesive team. From 1 through to 18, they are probably a better quality player than we had back then.

"I guess I’ve probably been involved in three or four finals, so to finally get over the line is probably a monkey off my back in some ways."

His son, Nick Ross, who captained the team, was part of those Southern teams which came so close.

He used the same "it has been a long time coming" line.

"It is a dream result, really. You couldn’t write about it, could you?

"It has been 20-odd years in the making."

Twenty years for Nick, but forever for Otago. That wait is finally over.

Otago has some real depth in the men’s game. Canterbury beat North Harbour to win the tier 2 men’s competition, but Otago prevailed 3-2 in a shootout against Northland in the bronze medal match.

It had led 4-0, but Northland roared back to set up a tense finish.