Wonderful Wednesday – Men’s Premier League Semi-Finals at Perth Hockey Stadium

Finals campaigns are officially underway at Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University, with the Men’s Premier League semi-finals commencing Wednesday 6 September.

The night will see two matches between the best teams in the competition, each vying for a place on Grand Final day.

The first game begins at 6.30pm, when top of the ladder, Melville, take on current third position, UWA. The winner of which will guarantee their spot in the 16 September Grand Final.

On the two occasions Melville and UWA have played, both were beaten at their club’s home turfs. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what results the neutral ground of Perth Hockey Stadium will yield.

The first time they clashed, UWA finished with a convincing 3-0 victory. Their second meeting was significantly closer: Melville led 0-1 at half time, before an onslaught of second-half goals from both clubs, and, even with UWA scoring 2 goals in the final 2 minutes of the game, Melville emerged with a win of 5-4 win.

The habit of scoring goals late in the games is one UWA have established and upheld throughout this season. They have scored fourth quarter winners or equalisers in 17 of their 23 games this year. UWA forward Daniel Timms credits this to the work they’ve done as a team since last year.

“Last season I think we drew nine games in the last few minutes,” Timms said.

“That was something we really wanted to better in this season: converting tight games like them into wins. Now, after working on that, we know we can trust our process and stick to our game plan. That if we play the right way the results will come. And they have.’”

When asked about dealing with nerves ahead of high-pressure matches, Timms explained just how prepared UWA are for finals.

“We have been working towards this all year, the goal from the very beginning has been to play in the Grand Final. Every training session, every game – it’s always been in the back of our minds. So, it’s more excitement than nerves now.”

While he did not divulge UWA’s specific preparation plans for their third face-off with Melville, Timms mentioned their team intentions heading into the semi-final.

“Melville are a quality team; they’ve been the best team in the competition for the last three years, and one of their many strengths is their work ethic. Matching that work ethic is a non-negotiable for us. We know a lot of their strength comes from the middle of their field.”

“We want to make sure we’re shutting down their key players, and, of course, playing our game as best we can. But we’re mostly just looking forward to the opportunity to give it a red-hot crack.”

Following UWA and Melville’s match is another head-to-head final between Hale and Reds at 8:15pm, the loser of which will be out of finals contention.

After winning their elimination final against YMCC this past weekend, striker Brodee Foster says that Reds have found their momentum and can’t wait to continue to utilise it.

“It was just a relief more than anything, to be honest,” Foster said about the elimination final.

“Watching the game back, it was obvious that we were the more dominant side. It was just an average third quarter on our part that allowed them to get a few up on us – and Tyler Lovell having a blinder really helped YM out as well. But thankfully, we were able to pick it back up in the fourth quarter. And it also helps us that Blake Govers is formidable in front of goal.”

Wednesday night will see an end to one team’s finals campaign, but Foster knows the best way forward is to accept the pre-game nerves.

“You’d be lying to yourself if you say you aren’t nervous. But the one of the biggest things I’ve taken from playing finals in the last few years is that nerves are a privilege. We have been fortunate to be in these do-or-die game a times in the past couple of seasons. We just need to stick to our process and take pride in our game.”

When the two met the first time this season, Hale secured a 4-1 win at their home ground. Then, later in the year, when they faced-off at Red’s home turf, Aquinas, the two teams matched each other goal-for-goal until their game ended in a 3-3 draw.

Brodee Foster is the only player from the Reds team to score in both games against Hale during the Home and Away season, which he humbly credits to than being at the right place at the right time.

Hale finished the 2023 season ranked second on the ladder, with Reds finished in fifth. But being in this exact position coming into finals hasn’t held Reds back in the past, and Foster is determined it won’t this year, either.

“We have been fortunate to be in a few finals campaigns over the past few years. In 2018 we came from fifth to win the Grand Final. So… fingers crossed.”

In terms of Reds’ focus heading into their game, Foster says they want to make sure all team members heads switched are on.

“It’s a quality competition this year, and once a team gets rolling in finals and they’ve got confidence up, it’s hard to stop them no matter who they are – it’s just a blessing that it’s us that is on the roll. Especially since, after the first 6 games of the season it wasn’t looking like we’d play finals at all.”

“We want to bring the energy and keep the energy. If we bring our mental game, our physical game will follow.”

Men’s Premier League Semi-Finals Schedule:

Wednesday 6^th September at Perth Hockey Stadium

6:30pm – Melville vs. UWA

8:15pm – Reds vs. Hale