H1 MATCH REPORT: Perth Thundersticks Semi Finals

The Perth Thundersticks Women’s team are set to go for gold after holding off a determined Tassie Tigers outfit on their home turf, while the Men’s team have fallen heartbreakingly short of securing a spot in the Men’s Grand Final.

Women

The Perth Thundersticks have continued their undefeated run and secure a Liberty Hockey One Grand Final berth.

The Thundersticks took on the Tassie Tigers in the first semi-final of the Liberty Hockey One Women’s competition at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre on Saturday 30 November.

The Thundersticks looked to take control early in the contest, dominating possession from the outset.

As the Tigers looked to put the pressure on, the contest became more of a territory battle during the opening minutes.

The Thundersticks soon found themselves under siege in defence with the Tigers awarded several penalty corners, resulting in Gitte Michels successfully breaking through to draw the first blood.

As the Thundersticks looked to make a quick response, the Tigers held strong to lead 1-0 at quarter time.

The second quarter saw both sides continuing to mount the pressure until Courtney Schonell made something out of nothing, firing a fantastic crossing pass to set Lexie Pickering up for a goal to tie it up.

As the contest picked up pace, Neasa Flynn fired a shot to put the Thundersticks in front, although Tigers goalkeeper Evie Dalton prevented the subsequent conversion.

Although the Tigers continued to mount the pressure to make a response, the Thundersticks maintained composure to lead 2-1 at half time.

The Thundersticks looked to make a hot start to the second half with an early penalty corner opportunity, only for their efforts to be thwarted by Tassie’s Fiona Crackles.

Persistence paid off as Eva Drummond earned a subsequent penalty corner that eventually led to her scoring off a strong shot by Karri Somerville to double their advantage.

As the Tigers looked to mount the pressure once again, the Thundersticks dominated possession to stay in control and lead 3-1 at three-quarter time.

The final quarter saw the Thundersticks trying to maintain control of the match, warding off any attempts by the Tigers to gain possession.

Although the Tigers made a hard press towards goal to try and shave down the margin, the Thundersticks continued to make intercepts and maintain possession.

A frenetic finish saw the Thundersticks hold on to defeat the Tigers 3-1, securing a spot in the Grand Final, with Drummond named the Liberty Player of the Match for her efforts.

Following the match, Drummond said while the team played well in humid conditions, they will look to take more control.

“We lost it a bit in that last quarter, I think we want to have a bit more control of the game, especially in that last part when you’re three up,” she said.

“I think we slipped a bit which can happen.

“It is a semi-final, and those games are always tough to play but I think we played well and I’m very proud.

“I just love it when we play well as a team.

“When we play the passing game, we’re almost unstoppable and I think that’s what we aim for and that’s always how I love to play.”

The Thundersticks will reset and regroup for Sunday’s Grand Final, where they will take on Brisbane Blaze, who defeated NSW Pride 3-1 to lock in the second spot.

The match will take place from 5:30pm AEDT (2:30pm AWST)

Match Details
Perth Thundersticks 3 (Pickering 18’, Flynn 24’, Drummond 34’)
Tassie Tigers 1 (Michels 6’)

Perth Thundersticks team: 1. Pippa Morgan, 3. Neasa Flynn, 5. Courtney Schonell, 6. Lexie Pickering, 7. Penny Squibb (C), 10. Jesse Reid, 12. Liné Malan (VC), 14. Elizabeth Duguid (GK), 15. Bellé Ramshaw, 17. Annie Gibbs, 18. Kaitlin Nobbs, 19. Aleisha Power (GK), 20. Karri Somerville, 21. Saysha Pillay, 22. Jolie Sertorio, 24. Eva Drummond, 28. Georgia Wilson.
Tassie Tigers team: 1. Sarah McCambridge, 2. Jemma Kenworthy, 3. Fiona Crackles, 4. Maddi Brooks (C), 5. Taylor Brooks, 8. Ruby Harris, 9. Holly Hunt, 10. Louisa Jacobson, 11. Romani Kenworthy, 13. Phillida Bridley, 14. Gitte Michels, 15. Lucy Cooper, 18. Kacee Ponting (GK), 19. Sarah Robertson, 20. Beth Dobbie, 23. Holly Gilbar, 25. Evie Dalton (GK).

Men

The Perth Thundersticks came agonisingly close to repeating history and replicating their Round 3 comeback, but ultimately fell short of securing a spot in the Liberty Hockey One Grand Final.

The Thundersticks faced off against Hockey Club Melbourne in the second semi-final of the Liberty Hockey One men’s competition at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre on Saturday 30 November.

Hockey Club Melbourne made a hot start, dominating possession in the early stages of the opening quarter.

However, the Thundersticks would be the first to hit the scoreboard with James Day scoring his fourth penalty corner goal of the season.

The celebrations would be short-lived as Hockey Club Melbourne quickly responded with a penalty corner goal of their own via Damon Steffens.

Despite a brief stalemate throughout the opening period, Hockey Club Melbourne would take the lead once again with a Brad Marais penalty corner pushing them in front 2-1 by quarter time.

As the Thundersticks looked to make up their one-goal deficit during the second quarter, they found themselves swarmed by the Hockey Club Melbourne defence.

Although the Thundersticks showed promising signs of staying in the contest through their defenders, Hockey Club Melbourne held on to maintain their 2-1 lead by half time.

Following the main break, the Thundersticks looked to stage a comeback and charge their way through Hockey Club Melbourne.

Despite Hockey Club Melbourne continuing to make a hard press, the Thundersticks strived to stay in the contest by mounting the defensive pressure via Brayden King, Ben Rennie and Jake Harvie.

Although the strong defensive efforts helped keep the Thundersticks in the contest, they were set up for an uphill battle for the final quarter after Hockey Club Melbourne’s Cooper Burns scored a penalty corner goal to finish the third quarter 3-1.

The final quarter saw a hot start for the Thundersticks with Tom Harvie scoring off a penalty corner to breathe life back into the contest.

However, Hockey Club Melbourne would respond with interest with a field goal via Connar Otterbach, although Rennie would prevent the subsequent conversion.

The tug-of-war like contest continued as Day scored his second goal for the afternoon off a penalty corner to bring the Thundersticks back in it, bringing forth a frantic final five minutes of the match.

As the Thundersticks continued to bang on the door via penalty corner shots, they ultimately ran out of time to bring the scores level and force a shootout, going down 3-4.

The Thundersticks will regroup before taking on Brisbane Blaze in the Bronze Medal match after they fell short to Canberra Chill 2-3.

The match will take place from 11:30am AEDT (8:30am AWST).

Match Details
Perth Thundersticks 3 (Day 5’/53’, T Harvie 46’)
Hockey Club Melbourne 4 (Steffens 8’, B Marais 14’, C Burns 41’, C Otterbach 50’)

Perth Thundersticks team: 2. Will Battistessa, 3. Brayden King, 4. Jake Harvie (C), 5. Tom Wickham (C), 8. Coby Green, 9. James Day, 10. Josh Bowen, 11. Tom Harvie (VC), 13. Sam Ashton, 14. Chaz Davies, 15. Matt Bird, 16. Brodee Foster, 18. Ben Rennie (GK), 22. Max Freedman, 24. Matt Willis, 25. Fraser Heigh, 26. James Collins (VC).
Hockey Club Melbourne team: 1. Craig Marais, 2. Peter Scott, 3. Jonathan Bretherton, 4. Liam Henderson, 5. Doug Buckley, 6. Damon Steffens (C), 7. Nathan Ephraums, 10. Brad Marais, 11. Cooper Burns, 12. Connar Otterbach, 14. Rana Waheed, 15. Josh Simmonds, 18. Johan Durst (GK), 20. Nye Roberts, 21. Connor Tuddenham, 22. Ben White, 27. George McGeoch (GK).

The Perth Thundersticks is proudly supported by Sharp EIT Solutions, Bravo Apples, ERM High Voltage Asset Specialists, Polytan, Session Equity, and Project Innovations.

The Perth Thundersticks Women’s program is also proudly supported by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.