TIGERS Hockey Club staged a stunning 3-2 victory over Cavaliers on the weekend to claim the Lower South East Hockey Association Division 1 men’s premiership.
After a devastating loss last season, Tigers was determined to make no mistake this time around.
The Tigers came into the final quietly confident and started strong to earn a string of penalty corners in the first 10 minutes.
However, Cavaliers’ keeper Ethan Blacksell was at his best and no score was recorded.
Lochie Nisbet was moved into attack for Tigers and had an immediate impact earning another penalty corner.
This time Aaron Mengler beat Blacksell and Matt McGregor could not stop it crossing the line, which gave Tigers the lead.
Tigers started the second half in control and an early penalty corner, but good save and quick turnover saw Cavaliers attack and it was Tony Duggan who scored the equaliser.
Tigers worked overtime for a solid five minutes and was rewarded with another penalty corner where Nisbet made no mistake and put the lead back into the hands of Tigers.
Minutes later Craig Nisbet put a great overhead into space and Lochie Nisbet was one-on-one with the keeper who took him down, sending Nisbet to the penalty spot.
He again found the back of the net and the Tigers had a two-goal buffer.
With 10 minutes to play Cavaliers threw everything at Tigers and Josh Aston managed to find space in the circle to score and give hope.
As the minutes ticked over Tigers went into defence mode to wind the clock down.
McGregor worked overtime to find an opening in the Tigers’ backline, but Craig Nisbet and Ben McCourt held well in defence.
Lochie Nisbet was a worthy recipient of the best on ground medal.
Final score: Tigers 3 d Cavaliers 2
