Ric Charlesworth Classic round 3 wrap-up

A blockbuster round 3 of the Ric Charlesworth Classic has been played at Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University today.

The first order of the day came in a match-up between the women's Suns and Highlanders, with both teams fighting for their first win of the season, it shaped up to be a close contest. The Highlanders got on top early, completely controlling the play over a lost-looking Suns outfit that couldn't make clean connections between players.

The first goal of the game came in the 11th minute off a penalty corner to the Highlanders, saved twice-over again from the Suns stalwart in goal, Power, but these saves were quickly deflected into goal by Highlanders' Carly James. It was neck-and-neck for the rest of the first half, Highlanders Madonna Blyth a standout, leading the Highlanders into multiple opportunities that could've easily found the goal.

The second half came around and the Highlanders looked to pile on the pressure, a goal to Chantelle Ciallella in the 44th minute put the Highlanders two up and in their sights was their first win of the tournament. Madonna Blyth quickly added to this with a stunning team goal in the 51st minute, shattering the Suns' hopes of tasting victory for the first time in the tournament. Another goal in the dying seconds to Savannah Fitzpatrick saw the Highlanders get the points on the board, with the Highlanders faithful rejoicing around Perth Hockey Stadium.

The first of the men's games saw the top-of-the-table Suns facing an Outbacks team coming off some serious form with a 5-1 win over the Highlanders. The Suns looked to continue their red-hot form from the get-go, with a 10th minute goal to Tarrant Haami-Jones putting the in-form team in good stead.

The Outbacks had other ideas, with a complete control of the play, but some superman-like saves from the Suns keeper kept the favourites in front. The Outbacks continued to apply high-quality pressure and attacking play to the Suns, and were rewarded for their efforts with a 20th-minute goal to Tim Deavin.

It was all Outbacks and the once-powerhouse Suns looked loss - a penalty corner ending in an absolute cracking goal by Miyu Tanimitsu crushed the hearts of the Suns, who started to look defeated. Outbacks striker Matt Bird's heroic quick-fire reply in the 31st minute meant game on, with both sides playing mouth-watering hockey with the fans at Perth Hockey Stadium in awe. One of the moments of the match came through Outbacks' Jesse Regan, who through some sensation team connection, scored a stunning reverse stick to bring the Outbacks back to their top-dog position.

On the brink of three-quarter time, it was Suns stalwart, Jason Gabriel, who applied the pressure and scored in the 44th minute, bringing the sides level once again to the disbelief of the Perth Hockey faithful. Either team needed a hero, and through some sensational team play around the circle on the brink of three quarter time, young-gun Tom Harvie scored the fourth and final goal for the Outbacks that sees them beat the in-form team of the competition. The Suns surged late in the fourth, and a cracking save by Outbacks keeper George McGeoch saw the Outbacks pull-away and win the game of the tournament.

On to the third, the women's Outbacks up against the Breakers - both sides having one win and one draw, looking to secure their spot in the gold medal match.

The Outbacks started strong, with the Breakers' defence holding on - a couple of classy saves seeing them deny the Outbacks of taking the lead early.

The Outbacks managed to fight past the Breakers strong back half, scoring in the 15th minute through their defensive stalwart and team-leader, Rachel Frusher. Georgina Dowd added to the Breakers misery in the second quarter, scoring a nice goal in the 29th minute, to further deny the Breakers chances of making the gold medal match due to their ever-diminishing goal difference.

Going into the second half, a defeated-looking Breakers were further shot, with a quick goal in the 33rd minute to Neasea Flynn, putting their gold medal hopes on hold, and likely down the drain. The Outbacks dominated play, controlling all aspects of the pitch and breezing towards goal, with the Breakers lucky to not be down by more half-way through the third.

With a few minutes to go in the fourth, the Breakers pulled one back and looked to fight until the very end - unfortunately the Breakers hearts were broken, with the Highlanders making the gold medal match on goal difference.

The final match of the evening saw the men's Highlanders and Breakers clash - and it was all but one-way traffic for most of the evening. The Highlanders delivered their best performance of the competition thus far, with their dominance converted to a goal to Jack Pearce in the 14th minute. Brodee Foster extended the lead to two nine minutes later from a penalty corner, before Lachlan Sampson was awarded a scrappy goal in the 47th minute to take the score to 3-0.