It was semi final weekend for the Lower South East Hockey Association and the action did not disappoint, with some thrilling matches going down to the wire.

The qualifying final in the division one women’s competition saw minor premiers Tigers take on second placed West.

The first half was an absorbing tussle, with both sides playing defensively and not willing to give an inch or take too many risks in a high pressure situation.

Olivia Turner’s running game was creating headaches for West, but the final touches by the mids into the circle were not quite connecting with their forwards for Tigers.

West similarly had few genuine chances, with Billie Jones and Morgan Cooper proving a strong combination in the backline for Tigers.

Angela Broad looked the most dangerous for West but was not quite on target, in large part due to Tigers keeper Arabelle Searle coming out and making the angles difficult for her.

Dana Jones was also prowling in the mid field but Tigers made sure to mark her, knowing how dangerous her forward runs could be.

After half time Tigers came out hungry and finally found the goal the game needed, thanks to Turner bringing the ball into the circle and then deftly passing across to Brooke Marcus, who proved why she was the league’s top goal scorer this season by calmly slotting it home.

This goal however gave West the impetus they needed and they hit back quickly thanks to a short corner conversion by Gemma Ballintyne.

West then put their foot down and scored again in a loose piece of defence by Tigers, and it looked like West were going to do what they had done so often in finals and run away with the game.

However at three quarter time Tigers regrouped and found some belief, and they were rewarded for playing a much better brand of hockey with a goal with 11 minutes to go thanks to a slap shot short corner conversion by Morgan Cooper.

The last 11 minutes were a very tense affair, with Tigers riding their luck with a few short corners and fast breaks to West, but ultimately it came down the other end with less than a minute remaining and Tigers securing a short corner after the final siren.

Kaitlyn Nisbet proved yet again why she is the number one option for short corners for her side, nailing an absolute bullet past the West defence to give Tigers the win and their first grand final berth in many years.

In the other division 1 women’s match Redbacks took on Naracoorte in what was an enthralling battle.

With the loser out of the race for 2023, both sides played with their seasons on the line, showing great intensity.

A moment of absolute Amy Hunt brilliance saw the first goal to Naracoorte, as she took the ball from virtually the midline to the goals, dribbling around multiple defenders and slotting it past the Redbacks keeper for the opener.

Naracoorte then held Redbacks for a long period of time but with Redbacks pushing hard through the midfield thanks to Anna Mitchell and Steph Wighton, one goal never looked like enough, and Redbacks proved this with a Lauren Manser goal late in the game forcing extra time.

Naracoorte earned themselves a short corner, and despite a mistrap at the top of the circle the ball came back in to Amy Hunt, who again had the decisive say in the match, scoring on her backstick and sending Naracoorte through to a mouth watering tussle with West next weekend.

The men’s competition saw Tigers take on West for the chance to go straight into the grand final, with the losers to take the harder path against Strikers/Naracoorte next week.

Both teams came out tentatively and the game was played predominantly in the mid field, with David Vine repelling most attacks for West and Connor Grant doing likewise for Tigers.

First to hit the scoreboard in the second half was West, when Brayden Burston pounced on a rebound from the Tigers defence to slot home the opener.

This sparked Tiger’s into action, with their first goal coming thanks to a power shot from Brady Cooper who was left far too open at the top of the circle for keeper Roy Hutchesson to have much of a chance.

This goal was followed almost straight away by a lovely drag flick goal from Aaron Mengler from a Blake McKee earned short corner and at this stage Tigers had all the running, looking like it was going to get blown apart when Craig Nisbet scored Tigers’ fourth goal.

The tension in the match went up with tempers flaring and a few warnings handed out, with a number of players having a spell in the tech box.

BJ Howard was on fire in the goals for Tigers, making a number of absolutely electric saves to keep the three goal buffer, but even he could not stop a shot from Nathan Taylor after a sloppy bit of defence from Tigers saw a 2 v 1 against the goalie result in West’s second goal.

However despite West’s push right until the end they could not get closer, with the final score 4-2 and the grand final ticket the prize for Tigers.