Division 1 Women
West 4 d Naracoorte 1
WEST travelled to Naracoorte for Round 3 of the Lower South East Hockey Association.
West wasted no time in getting itself into attack as it pressured the Naracoorte defence and tested out Brittany Chaston’s goalkeeping skills.
Naracoorte held strong and settled into the game to force West back.
Some tidy team work saw Naracoorte break through the West defence to earn a penalty corner.
Cathy Loder converted the opportunity with a loopy hit that bounced in all the right places, eventually just dropping over the prone West goalie for the first goal of the match.
West’s Dana Jones came to the party shortly before quarter time with a lovely tomahawk to level the scores.
In the second quarter the play was fast and end to end with West attackers attempting to score from every ball within reach but they were constantly denied by the Naracoorte defenders.
A flurry of penalty corners awarded to West tested the Naracoorte defence further but the hosts held firm at the back.
A fast break for Naracoorte saw Sarah Hamilton and Sarah Fry beat the West defenders but the chance was just off target and the scores remained level.
The weather turned in the second half and a steady rain settled in.
A strong and steady defence from Paige Clarke and Tori Grosse denied plenty of challenges from Hamilton and Brooke Green as both teams settled into a mid-field tussle.
West managed to work the ball back out of its defence and handed it over to the attack who finally managed to score through Gemma Ballintyne after multiple penalty corners.
Fourth quarter tiredness resulted in some fumbles and mistakes from both teams but West was the first to recover with Angela Broad hitting the bottom corner to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Broad was keen to follow up and took every opportunity to shoot and eventually found the back of the net a second time to put the icing on the cake. another score.
A final fast break from Naracoorte earned a penalty corner after a desperate tackle from a west defender.
However, the West defence stayed strong and cleared the ball to keep the final score 4-1.
Strikers 2 d/w Tigers 2
The game between Strikers and Tigers Division 1 women lived up to its billing, with an exciting 2-2 draw played out in front of a good crowd.
Tigers scored first through an absolute laser beam short corner shot from Kaitlyn Nisbet.
Tigers had the majority of the attack in the first quarter but Chloe Boylan held her defence together and repelled a lot of promising attacks.
Strikers equalised in the second quarter with a short corner of its own to gun recruit Ash Dunn.
They then took the lead shortly after a bouncing ball found the back of the net.
After finding themselves a goal down, Tigers tried to mix things up a bit in an attempt to beat the ever-amazing Kate Fabian in goals.
The equaliser finally came after sustained pressure through the midfield by Morgan Cooper which led to a terrific goal by Billie Jones.
The final quarter was an arm wrestle with both sides looking to take the points but no one could find the winner, leaving the result a fitting draw.
Division 1 Men
Strikers 10 d Tigers 2
The Division 1 men’s match looked a total mismatch early on, with Strikers taking the field without a goalie.
Brady Cooper scored within minutes, and Connor Bartlett took full advantage, dribbling the second goal in shortly thereafter.
However, the Strikers did not give up and earned themselves a short corner, which was converted after a nice variation and a slick drag flick by Jordan Millhouse.
Blake McKee got on the end of a nice team goal for Tigers to make it 3-1, when thankfully the Strikers goalie was finally able to take the field.
Dean McCarthy was putting on a show in defence for Strikers and Connor Butler showed great intensity in the midfield but they couldn’t stop the Tigers scoring machine, as Bartlett and Cooper both scored again. Matt Kain also scored on the brink of half time for Tigers to take a 6-1 lead into the main break, despite a number of good saves by goalie Jordan Fabian.
Cooper added another to make it a hat trick just after the half time break and Aaron Mengler got on the scorecard after working hard setting up team mates for the bulk of the match.
Strikers hit the scorecard again in the last quarter but it was of small consolation in the 10-2 defeat.
West 10 d Naracoorte 2
West stamped its authority with a comprehensive win over Naracoorte.
The first quarter went West’s way with West’s two new debuts Tyler Collins and Archie Aitken both scoring goals in the first quarter and Angus Aitken finishing off with a third in the quarter.
In the second term, Naracoorte started strongly, getting numbers behind the ball.
However, West remained composed and was able to score another two goals.
In the third quarter everyone was tired with both teams playing without a full team.
The game stagnated with West and Narracoorte just trying to blast it through each other’s defences.
West started linking up in the last five minutes of the quarter and with this were able to put a few more goals in.
The last quarter was a very slow and methodical quarter of not a lot of running and balls hit through gaps.
West managed to slot a few more goals in before the final whistle blew.
