After five long months hitting the artificial turf of Blue Lake Sports Park, the Lower South East Hockey Association stars are ready to get stuck into finals following the conclusion to the 2021 minor-round season last weekend.
The favourites for the Division 1 men title Tigers finished its crushing campaign in style.
Tigers navigated the entire home-and-away season without a blip, winning 12 and drawing six games.
The reigning premiers were in fine form on Friday night, accounting for Redbacks with ease.
Aaron Mengler continued his goal-scoring prowess with a pair of strikes, while Simon Mccourt also found the box on multiple occasions.
Luke Hunter was instrumental around the pitch to setup many chances in the 5-0 win, while Aaron barry waved the flag for Redbacks.
The Strikers v West contest was always going to be the closest and that proved to be the case.
Strikers found an early goal off the stick of Jordan Millhouse and the side looked set to make up for its 4-2 defeat against the same opposition in round 12.
However, West rallied off the back of David Vine’s inspirational work in the back half.
His hard work created scoring opportunities for Darren Vine, Aiden Cameron and Connor Clark, who converted their shots to surge West ahead.
The 3-1 win consolidated West’s third position on the ladder, while Dean McCarthy received top votes for Strikers.
This weekend the fight for finals commences.
Tigers and Strikers face off in the qualifier with a grand final berth up for grabs.
After draws in the previous four head to heads, expect another thrilling battle between the rivals, but Tigers’ winning form across a near-perfect season should prove decisive.
It will be a fight to the finish in the eliminator between West and Redbacks.
The winner receives the chance to meet the qualifier loser for a shot at the decider, while the loser goes home.
West is the favourite with winning form, but Redbacks cannot be discounted after the club’s only win of the season arrived against the green, blue and yellow side in round 5.
In the Division 1 women’s competition, minor-premier West warmed up for the road ahead by cruising past Strikers.
Angela Broad, Dana Jones and Rachell Calliss were the goal scorers in the solid 4-0 win, while Strikers goalkeeper Kate Fabian fought hard under fire.
Second seed Redbacks stayed in touch by completing a strong season with a decent hit out against Tigers.
The battle between the second and third placed teams on the ladder was a competitive one, but Stephanie Ward and Anna Mitchell ensured Redbacks got over the line.
Tigers could not trouble the scorers, but Olivia Tuner did her best in the 2-0 defeat.
The qualifying final between West and Redbacks will be unmissable hockey with little separating the sides in the fight for the decider.
All three possible results have occurred in the previous trio of matches, but West hold the slim advantage having the slightly superior win-loss record between the rivals across the 2021 season.
However, Redbacks can draw confidence from the most recent outing where Jemma Heraper’s goal proved too much for the minor premiers.
Tigers and Strikers will throw everything at the eliminator this weekend to keep their season alive.
Strikers has not won a game in 2021, but showed Tigers its best during a 3-3 draw two weeks ago.
