Match Reports

Labrador's Tommy Kavanagh takes cover from a shot by Easts' Tim Bates
(Photo by Manfreds Photography - www.manfredphoto.com.au).

Easts striker Jacob Whetton sees his shot beat Labrador goalkeeper Tyrone Melrose
and find the net (Photo by Manfreds Photography - www.manfredphoto.com.au).

BRISBANE HOCKEY LEAGUE - ROUND 14

University of Queensland 4 (Hamish Baron 3, Greg Collins) defeated QUT 0 at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

A hat-trick of goals from forward Hamish Baron and a clean sheet from goalkeeper Adam Dinsdale helped University of Queensland down QUT in the battle of the student teams.  After a diving Dinsdale denied QUT’s Justin Truscott from a penalty corner drag flick, Baron, whose goal poaching skills have been sorely missed by the Redmen in recent weeks, opened the scoring with a freakish strike in the 18th minute.  Squeezed into the corner of the circle near the backline by QUT defenders, the New Zealander hit a shot on his favoured backstick that zipped past goalkeeper Chris Grew.  Two minutes later Baron beat Grew again, this time from a neat deflection from Greg Collins’ penalty corner shot.  Another brace of goals in quick succession midway through the second half put to bed any notion of QUT repeating their 2-2 draw with their tertiary rivals earlier in the year.  Baron’s third goal came from a smart penalty corner variation, and three minutes later Collins rocketed an unstoppable shot into the net.  Meanwhile, Dinsdale continued to keep his net clean, again denying Truscott from a set play and also stopping an impressive backstick shot from Peter Forshaw.

Easts 7 (Matt Gohdes 2, Jacob Whetton 2, Jason Wilson, Tim Bates, Jarrod Black) defeated Labrador 2 (Mark Harris, Thomas Huebner) at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

Easts once again demonstrated its attacking potency against Labrador, scoring three goals in quick time to blow open a tight game against their likely finals rivals.  Easts capitalised on a series of early penalty corners, scoring first through Jason Wilson inside four minutes.  After Labrador had a goal from a penalty corner disallowed, Mark Harris tied the game after 10 minutes, and the Tigerstix looked to have the game to trouble the Tigers, despite missing key forward Brad Puleosi.  But just as they did against Commercial the previous week, Easts swamped their opponents to take a stranglehold on the game.  Matt Gohdes, Tim Bates and Jacob Whetton all scored within six minutes, with Jarrod Black’s simple tap-in in the shadows of halftime gave the Tigers an unassailable 5-1 lead at the break.  Labrador’s new Austrian halfback Thomas Huebner scored the goal of the game when his aerial backstick shot beat a diving Easts goalkeeper Stephen Green with 15 minutes left.  But Easts rounded out the win with two more goals to move within one victory of claiming their fourth minor premiership from the past six seasons.

Commercial 5 (Wayne Barry 3, David Brain, Kye Hawgood) defeated Redcliffe Leagues 1 (Shane Kenny) at Mary Nairn Fields, Redcliffe.

Redcliffe Leagues dropped out of the Brisbane Hockey League top five for just the second time this season after Commercial continued their recent dominance over the peninsula side with a four-goal win.  With Redcliffe Leagues midfielder Peter Dillon and Commercial opposite Tom Brough engaged in an entertaining battle, the game was scoreless until the 19th minute, when Wayne Barry scored the first of four field goals for the Cobras.  After playing a leading role in setting up goals earlier this season, Barry continued his recent goal scoring form, scoring a hat-trick against Redcliffe Leagues.  After registering a solitary goal over the first 11 weeks of the season, Barry has now scored five goals from his past three matches.  On the other side of the field, Shane Kenny has also notched five goals from his past three games after scoring for Redcliffe Leagues, who have now won only one of its past 15 clashes against the Cobras.  The baysiders’ form on their home turf is just as much of a concern.  After winning three of six games at Mary Nairn Fields last season, Redcliffe Leagues has won two of four matches on the peninsula this year, dropping their past two games at home.

Bulimba 10 (Jason Hale 4, Jarrod Cutler 2, Duncan Mahony, Ben Flemming, Luke Paine, Liam Brown) defeated Valley 2 (Tobias Figura, Duncan Stewart) at Mary Nairn Fields, Redcliffe.

Bulimba’s Jason Hale rediscovered the form in the attacking circle that saw him top the Brisbane Hockey League’s goal scorers chart last season, slotting home four goals as the Bulls went on a scoring spree against Valley.  Hale, who scored 20 goals last year, had previously scored just once from his limited top-grade appearances this year.  Bulimba led 5-1 at halftime against Valley, who didn’t offer the same form that saw them just lose to the higher ranked Bulls 5-4 and 4-3 in their previous two meetings.  Further hampering Valley’s chances against the Bulls was the fact they were using third-string goalkeeper Peter Hampton due to the absence of David Watts and Lachlan Barker.  Duncan Mahony, Luke Paine and Liam Brown, who are Bulimba’s equal top scorers with 10 goals each this year, also found the back of the net against Valley, while Jarrod Cutler took his season tally to eight with a double.  Tobias Figura continues to produce stunning feats for the struggling Valley side, netting his 13th goal of the year against Bulimba, to top his mark of a dozen goals from last season, when his side just missed out on the finals.

Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths 6 (Brent Garske 2, Ryan Kilpatrick 2, Craig Richards, Luke Reddiex) defeated United 0 at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

Three goals in each half has seen Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths leap-frog local rival Redcliffe Leagues into fifth place on the ladder after capping an 11-goal turnaround with a six-goal win against United.  United, who stunned the Saints 5-0 in their previous meeting, needed to win to keep in touch with the finals contenders following their disappointment in drawing against bottom placed QUT the previous week.  However the Saints were the better team in the first half, with the first of Ryan Kilpatrick’s two goals giving his side a 3-0 lead at halftime.  Craig Richards set up two goals in the first 10 minutes after the break - to Brent Garske and Luke Reddiex - to effectively seal the Saints’ fourth win from their past five games.  The result sees the Saints pull two wins clear of United with four rounds left until the finals.  In keeping a clean goal box for the fourth time this year, Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths goalkeeper Nathan Panetta and his defenders have kept an opposition side scoreless more often than any other team in the competition. 

POINTS:

Easts 42, Commercial 34, Labrador 26, Bulimba 25, Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths 21, Redcliffe Leagues 19, United 15, University of Queensland 11, Valley 9, QUT 2.

LEADING GOAL SCORERS:

18  -  Jason Wilson (Easts)
16  -  David Brain (Commercial)
      -  Brad Puleosi (Labrador)
13  -  Tobias Figura (Valley)
      -  James McAlpine (Redcliffe Leagues)
11  -  Hamish Baron (University of Queensland)
      -  Cale Cramer (Commercial)
      -  Adam McClelland (United)
10  -  Darran Bisley (Easts)
      -  Jarrod Black (Easts)
      -  Liam Brown (Bulimba)
      -  Duncan Mahony (Bulimba)
      -  Luke Paine (Bulimba)
  9  -  Tim Bates (Easts)
      -  Matt Gohdes (Easts)
      -  Mark Harris (Labrador)
      -  Ian Schulz (Redcliffe Leagues)

Easts goal scorer Matt Gohdes passes over the top of Labrador keeper Tyrone Melrose
(Photo by Manfreds Photography - www.manfredphoto.com.au).

Jacob Whetton shoots for goal despite the attention of Labrador's Adam Byrnes
(Photo by Manfreds Photography - www.manfredphoto.com.au).

Compiled by Lee Oliver.