Friday night’s Division 1 Men’s match between Redbacks and Tigers two kicked off a big weekend of action in the Lower South East Hockey Association competition which provided some unexpected results across the board.

Tigers went on the attack early before Redbacks settled and started to link their passes through the midfield, with Jarrod Sanders finishing off a neat passage of play to give Redbacks a one-nil lead at quarter time.

Despite both teams creating chances, a scoreless second quarter saw Redbacks maintain their lead at the major break.

A brilliant run culminating in classy reverse stick goal to Tigers young gun Pattrick Robinson early in the third quarter brought the yellow and black back onto level terms and gave his team the lift they needed, putting further pressure on the Redbacks defence.

With the scores level at the final change, both teams went on the attack.

Redbacks were unable to make the most of their opportunities in the attacking circle and it was Tigers who broke the deadlock thanks to a penalty corner drag flick by Craig Nisbett.

The experienced Tigers defence held strong as Redbacks desperately tried to even the scores before the final whistle signalled a two-one win to Tigers.

Reigning Division 1 premiers West took on the recently promoted Cavaliers team, in what was expected to be a mostly one-sided affair.

West set about dominating cavaliers early, but this was not the case.

With a quick rebounding play Cavaliers received a penalty corner with Joshua Aston scoring a goal.

More attacking play from Cavs’ half back Jesse Dowdy resulted in another penalty corner and Aston converted again.

Suddenly the underdog team was two goals up after just seven minutes of play.

But David Vine lifted his team on to his back and West fired shot after shot until finally Anthony Baseley let a Nathan Taylor deflection slip by to get the premiers on the board before the main break.

Sensing a massive upset West’s Angus Widdison and Brayden Burston provided some great forward pressure resulting in the equaliser before the final break.

West were looking good to save face and score a third goal with numerous short corners and attacking shots on goal.

Unfortunately for them Tim McGregor found Daniel Harradine hiding behind the West full backs and hit a full-length pass to leave Harradine go one on one with the goal keeper, and he scored with a quick flick over his opponent and into the box.

Cavaliers flooded their defence for the last two minutes and held on for a memorable unexpected 3-2 victory.

In the last Division 1 men’s match Tigers romped home in a 5-1 victory against last year’s finalists Strikers.

Aaron Mengler was back in the goals after missing out last week, scoring a hat-trick for his side, with Greg Doll and Jarryd Burston scoring a goal each.

Luke Hunter and Lochie Nisbet controlled the game for Tigers through the midfield, while Dean McCarthy was best for Strikers, and responsible for their only goal.

In Division 1 Women both Tigers and Strikers were looking for their first win of the season after a draw in their opening encounter.

Tigers came out of the blocks hard, with a Kaitlyn Nisbet zinger off a short corner finding the backboard.

Brooke Marcus then carried the ball into the circle and neatly dished it to Emma Ryan, who deflected it past Fabian.

In the end the flood gates opened for Tigers, with Marcus starring with four individual goals as well as many assists.

Olivia Turner also chipped in for a goal and the score was 7-0 by the final whistle.

Phoebe Tregenza and Tayla England fought valiantly for Strikers in the midfield and Fabian made more saves but ultimately Tigers had their foot to the floor and linked up beautifully in a great team performance.

In the other Division 1 women’s match Redbacks came from behind to sneak the points off West in a 3-2 victory.

The rivalry between West and Redbacks women always provides a great game for the spectators and the matchups between these sides are always close fought with both teams using their talent and chemistry to their advantage.

West looked full of energy at the beginning of the game, scoring the first two goals through Gemma Ballintyne and Dana Jones.

Although Redbacks were caught on the back foot, they continued to utilise their pace though counterattack opportunities.

Eventually their efforts were successful, scoring in a short corner off a Steph Wighton hit.

The arm wrestle continued, but shortly after Redbacks scored though the stick of Anna Mitchell.

With both teams on level terms the game looked to end as a draw with a tightly fought midfield battle.

But Redbacks managed to break through again thanks to Mitchell and score the game winning goal at the death, winning 3-2.