Melville pip Reds in Grand Final rematch opener

Round one of Hockey WA’s Premier League has commenced with the men’s competition providing thrilling results across the board, headlined by a Grand Final rematch between Melville and Reds with Melville coming away with a closely fought victory.

In a scintillating match at Pulse Stadium, Melville defeated Reds 5-4 in the 2021 Grand Final rematch with the game on a knife’s edge until the final buzzer.

Reds’ Adrian Lockley opened the scoring for his side early in the fifth minute but Melville Replied with three of their own in quick succession, two of those coming from Justin McDougall in the 18^th and 27^th minutes.

Reds replied once again through Kookaburras’ Blake Govers in the 37^th minute but Eric Pearce Top Goal Scorer Award winner in 2021, James Day, scored two of his own in the 51^st and 53^rd minutes through two penalty corners.

Reds looked to try and snatch the win with two late goals from Govers in the 55^th and 57^th minutes, securing his hat-trick, but Reds fell just short and were unable to score again with the result going 5-4 in Melville’s favour.

Hale and Whitford opened the 2022 season with a match on Friday night at Hale Turf, with Hale securing the 5-2 victory – Hale’s Liam Flynn starred with two goals.

Hale scored the first two of the match with Liam Flynn and Sam Ashton finding goal in the 16th and 22nd minutes, but Whitford replied through a goal from Kookaburras' Jeremy Hayward in the 24th minute.

Hale managed to score the next three, with Flynn finding the goal again in the 31st minute and Matthew Lewis and Charlie Norman adding to the tally in the 49th and 51st minutes respectively.

Whitford scored again through Nathan Ephraums in the 57th minute but it wasn't enough to pull back with Hale going out as winners with a 5-2 score line.

The match between YMCC and Curtin provided a goal fest for fans at Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University, with YMCC defeating Curtin 6-3 in an exciting contest.

Curtin opened the scoring in the 21^st minute through new recruit Luka Plochy but YMCC piled on four goals to bring the score line to 4-1 in their favour at three-quarter-time.

Curtin then replied quickly in the opening minutes of the third quarter, with Luke Checker and Plochy again finding goal in the 46^th and 48^th minutes respectively.

YMCC found two of their own late in the match through Christopher Lim and Michael Nicoli in reply to Curtin’s pressure on the score board to secure the victory, with Nicoli recording a hat-trick.

Victoria Park and Fremantle Cockburn competed in a thrilling match following YMCC’s and Curtin’s bout at Perth Hockey Stadium.

Victoria Park’s Ben Taylor found the goal early on from a penalty corner in the third minute.

Fremantle Cockburn then responded in the 14^th minute through their own penalty corner with Kieran Brook finding goal, but Victoria Park once again managed to score in the 26^th minute through Kookaburras’ James Collins to bring the score line to 2-1 in Victoria Park’s favour.

Fremantle Cockburn managed to apply the attacking pressure and secured a 3-2 victory, with Tim Deavin and Kieran Brook again finding goal in the 40^th and 49^th minutes to round out the match.

Westside Wolves and UWA competed in a strong contest at Lemnos Field, with Wolves defeating UWA 3-2.

Wolves’ Daniel Beale opened the scoring early on in the second minute but UWA piled on two goals through Jacob Evans and Daniel Timms in the 23^rd and 30^th minutes.

Wolves responded with two of their own in the 38^th and 49^th minutes through Arman Brian and Alistair Murray to secure the win for the side.

Old Guildfordians Mundaring have kicked off their 2022 campaign in style with a win over WASPs, after only registering the three wins in 2021 for a 10^th place finish.

WASPs opened the scoring early in the match, with Lachlan Sampson finding goal in the eight minute from a penalty corner.

New Guildford Player/Coach, former Kookaburra Chris Ciriello, gave Guildford their first score of the match in the 14^th minute through a penalty corner of his own.

Hunter Banyard quickly found the goal again for Guildford directly after their first in the 15^th minute

Daniel Prior rounded out the day for the side with a goal in the 26^th minute to secure the 3-1 victory, with no scores for either side after half-time

FULL SCORES

Hale 5 defeat Whitford 2

Goals:

Hale – Liam Flynn (16’) (31’), Sam Ashton (22’), Matthew Lewis (49’), Charlie Norman (51’)

Whitford – Jeremy Hayward (24’), Nathan Ephraums (57’)

Curtin 3 defeated by YMCC 6

Goals:

Curtin – Lukas Plochy (21’) (48’), Luke Checker (46’)

YMCC – Michael Nicoli (30’) (38’) (55’), Marshall Roberts (32’), Eddie Ockenden (35’), Christopher Lim (54’)

Westside Wolves 3 defeat UWA 2

Goals:

Wolves – Daniel Beale (2’), Arman Brian (38’), Alistair Murray (49’)

UWA – Jacob Evans (23’), Daniel Timms (30’)

Victoria Park 2 defeated by Fremantle Cockburn 3

Goals:

Victoria Park – Ben Taylor (3’), James Collins (26’)

Fremantle Cockburn – Kieran Brook (14’) (49’), Tim Deavin (40’)

Melville 5 defeat Reds 4

Goals:

Melville – Jake Staines (17’), Justin McDougall (18’) (27’), James Day (51’) (53’)

Reds – Adrian Lockley (5’), Blake Govers (37’) (55’) (57’)

Old Guildfordians Mundaring 3 defeat WASPs 1

Goals: 

OGMHC - Chris CIriello (14'), Hunter Banyard (15'), Daniel Prior (26')

WASPs - Lachlan Sampson (8')