H1 MATCH REPORT: Perth Thundersticks vs Adelaide Fire

The Perth Thundersticks have secured their third double win in a row with the Men’s team coming from behind to edge out Adelaide Fire while the Women’s team dominated to become the first team to secure a spot in the Liberty Hockey One finals.

Men

The Perth Thundersticks Men’s team have continued to keep everyone on their toes, coming from two down at half time to defeat the Adelaide Fire by one goal.

It was an even start during the opening quarter with both sides putting the pressure on each other early on.

Amid the initial back and forth, neither side could break through, leaving the scores level at 0-0 at the first break.

The Thundersticks continued making a hard press towards goal early in the second quarter but the defensive pressure by the Fire seemed to overwhelm them as opportunities to score went begging.

As both sides looked to make the charge towards goal, the contest remained in a deadlock.

However, Adelaide would fire off a shot to draw the first blood late in the term with Hugh Snowden scoring a field goal and successfully converting to give the Fire the 2-0 advantage by half time.

The Thundersticks went into the third quarter with a sense of urgency, quickly driving the ball towards goal.

However, the Fire would continue to mount the pressure, stifling Perth’s opportunities to score.

Just as it looked like the contest would remain in a deadlock, Tom Wickham was in the right place at the right place, slotting in a field goal and successfully converting to bring the scores level at 2-2 by the final change.

Both sides continued to mount the pressure on one another throughout the final quarter as they looked to avoid a shootout finish.

A penalty corner shot saw Brodee Foster edge in a goal off a Tom Harvie drag flick to put the Thundersticks in front for the first time in the contest.

As the Fire looked to respond, the Thundersticks held strong with plenty of interceptions and great runs to extinguish the Fire 3-2.

A stand-out performance in defence saw James Day earn the Liberty Player of the Match as well as the Consolidated Minerals Player of the Match.

Following the match, Brayden King said gaining a second consecutive win was important for the boys.

“Hopefully we’re starting to gain some momentum towards finals,” he said.

“We speak about good character and just not dropping.

“We went into half time and really took our focuses away from the first half and just focussed on ourselves for the second half.

“We’ve created opportunities but then once we do that, we then flip our momentum and we just need to battle that back.”

Match Details
Perth Thundersticks 3 (Wickham 41’/41’, Foster 52’)
Adelaide Fire 2 (H. Snowden 29’/29’)

Perth Thundersticks team: 3. Brayden King, 4. Jake Harvie (C), 5. Tom Wickham (C), 8. Coby Green, 9. James Day, 11. Tom Harvie (VC), 13. Sam Ashton, 14. Chaz Davies, 15. Matt Bird, 16. Brodee Foster, 20. Angus Adamson, 21. Christian Starkie (GK), 22. Max Freedman, 24. Matt Willis, 25. Fraser Heigh. Emergency GK: Ben Rennie.
Adelaide Fire team: 1. Jed Snowden (GK), 2. Luke Anderson, 3. Lucas Toonen, 4. Jack Holland, 5. Trent Symss, 7. Geoff Abbott, 8. Seb Foster, 9. Fred Gray (C), 10. Tom Wycherley, 12. Lachlan Arneil, 16. Hugh Snowden, 17. Bryce Hammond, 19. Tom Brown, 25. Landon Morley, 33. Mitchell Dell, Emergency GK: Hunter Banyard.

Women

The Perth Thundersticks have likely secured a third consecutive Liberty Hockey One finals berth, dominating Adelaide Fire 5-0 to remain undefeated.

After some initial back and forth, Eva Drummond scored her first Hockey One goal by tapping in off a Karri Somerville shot, following it up with a rocket to successfully convert and put the home side in front early.

The hot start continued as Courtney Schonell scored a field goal to extend the lead to three goals by quarter time.

As Adelaide looked to respond early in the second quarter, the Thundersticks defenders continued to mount the pressure and make interceptions.

Drummond would continue her dominance up forward, combining with Schonell to score a second field goal and conversion to extend the Thundersticks’ lead out to 5-0 by half time.

Following the main break, the Fire attempted to stage an early comeback with a hot start but found themselves overwhelmed by the Thundersticks defence.

The Thundersticks continued to put up a fast-paced, high-pressure approach, making interceptions and quickly driving the ball towards goal.

Despite the contest reaching a stalemate, the Thundersticks held strong to lead 5-0 at three-quarter time.

Although the stalemate continued throughout the final quarter with Fire showing promising signs for matches to come, the Thundersticks held firm to win 5-0

A solid performance throughout the match saw Annie Gibbs named the Consolidated Minerals Player of the Match, while Drummond earned the Liberty Player of the Match.

Captain Penny Squibb said it was special to get another win in the books.

“We’re all having a bit of fun, which is a good thing, but we’re also performing,” she said.

“Even if someone’s having a down game, someone else picks up the slack so as a team it’s competitive every week for selection.

“I think everyone’s just putting in effort across the board which is pretty special to be part of.

“We’ll just keep working game by game and hopefully get the ultimate results in Tassie.”

Match Details
Perth Thundersticks 5 (Drummond 6’/6’/28’/28’, Schonell 12’)
Adelaide Fire 0

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), 15. Bellé Ramshaw, 17. Annie Gibbs, 18. Kaitlin Nobbs, 19. Aleisha Power (GK), 20. Karri Somerville, 24. Eva Drummond, 28. Georgia Wilson, 33. Candyce Peacock (VC), Emergency GK: Elizabeth Duguid.
Adelaide Fire team: 1. Bridget Laurance (GK), 3. Sherilyn Cass, 5. Holly Evans, 8. Miki Spano, 9. Britney Desilva, 10. Tyler Pedley, 11. Lucy Sharman, 13. Hattie Shand (C), 15. Beatriz Monger-Molowny, 16. Casey Crowley, 19. Julia Van De Heuvel, 20. Puck De Beijer, 23. Margot Van Geffen, 24. Shona McCallin, 29. Rosie Villagra, Emergency GK: Lou-Ellen Edwards.

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.