United recorded back-to-back wins for the first time with a five-goal thrashing of Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths.  United opened the scoring from a penalty stroke, when Adam McClelland scooped the ball into the top left corner of the net.  Saints were left to rue a missed chance from a short corner, as Matt Freeman scored with a reverse hit within one minute, before United grabbed two more goals in the first half.  Saints goalkeeper Nathan Panetta blocked two successive hard hit shots from a short corner, but it was third time lucky for United when Ryan Schulte got the ball into the goal.  Saints again failed to score from consecutive short corners, before conceding another penalty in their circle.  Shane Cowley drove the ball past Panetta from the ensuing play, and United’s 4-0 half-time lead showed the importance of converting pressure into points.  Retaining possession was rare for both teams after the break, with United’s Belema Dede providing a good cross to set up McClelland for the only goal of the second period.  United’s win was the first time it has kept an opponent scoreless.

- Liam Hauser

Bulimba 5 (Duncan Mahony 3, Todd Gill, Dean Butler) defeated Valley 4 (Tobias Figura 2, Braydon O’Callaghan, Matthew Denning) at Burringbar Park, Chermside.

A depleted Valley put up a brave fight in a tit-for-tat match against Bulimba, who eventually prevailed by a single goal.  Bulimba’s Dean Butler opened the scoring in the seventh minute, before Valley’s Tobias Figura equalised with a hard-hit drive.  Valley goalkeeper David Watts made a couple of excellent saves to keep the scores level until half-time.  But when Watts advanced during a Bulimba raid shortly after the break, Duncan Mahony steered the ball past him.  Valley hit back in the next two minutes when Braydon O’Callaghan scored, before shooting to the lead when Figura scored his second goal.  However, it was Bulimba which gained momentum. Todd Gill scored from a short corner with 19 minutes remaining to tie the scores up again.  Five minutes later, Mahony scored again after good lead-up work from Ben Flemming, before bringing up his hat-trick just a few minutes later.  With Bulimba leading 5-3, the game looked to be out of Valley’s reach, but its players never gave up, and Matthew Denning scored a last-gasp goal with one minute left to make the score look more respectable.

- Liam Hauser

Easts 5 (Jason Wilson 2, Tim Bates 2, Darran Bisley) defeated Labrador 1 (Andrew Taylor) at Keith Hunt Park, Labrador.

Labrador had its three-game winning streak snapped, while Easts maintained their undefeated start to the season, in the clash of the Tigerstix and the Tigers at the Gold Coast.  The match was equally matched for the most part, with both sides executing excellent ball and stick-handling, teamwork and goaltending, through Stephen Green (Easts) and Tyrone Melrose (Labrador).  Easts put pressure on Labrador’s goal early on in the game, but it was Labrador’s Andrew Taylor who opened the scoring with five minutes left in the first half, when his shot found it way through Easts traffic. After being held scoreless in the first half for the first time in recent memory, Easts made use of a one-man advantage early in the second half, keeping the ball mostly in the Labrador half of the field as they began to assert their authority on the game.  Queensland  Blades representative pair Tim Bates and Jason Wilson both finished with two goals each for the Tigers, while Darran Bisley’s goal sees him share top scorer honours with Valley’s Tobias Figura.

- Alex Kessaram

University of Queensland 2 (Hamish Baron, Timbi Poon) drew with QUT 2 (Kieran Dunning 2) at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

QUT and University of Queensland demonstrated that inter-campus rivalry is alive and well on the hockey field as they played out an exciting draw in a sometimes tense match.  University of Queensland coach Richard James saw his former side QUT score first when Kieran Dunning made the most of a defensive lapse to score.  New Zealand forward Hamish Baron, who proved to be a thorn in the side of QUT defenders all day, scored the equalising goal for the Redmen in the 20th minute when he capitalised on an Ibis defensive error.  Timbi Poon gave University of Queensland its first lead of the match when he struck home a strong penalty corner hit soon after halftime.  But QUT, led by Dunning - a former University of Queensland player - drew level with six minutes remaining from their third straight corner.  After an initial penalty corner strike had hit the post, Dunning sent his rebound shot past goalkeeper Adam Dinsdale, before his side survived a frantic finale to score their first competition points of the season.

- Lee Oliver

Commercial 3 (Jason Greene 2, David Brain) defeated Redcliffe Leagues 1 (James McAlpine) at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

Commercial maintained their recent dominance over Redcliffe Leagues to retain second spot on the ladder and hand the peninsula side their second straight defeat.  Redcliffe Leagues looked out of sorts early as the Cobras threatened to run away with the match, after Jason Greene’s deflection shot pinballed its way through goalkeeper Daniel Pink’s pads and into goal in the 13th minute.  Led superbly by fullback Kris Glass, Commercial competently repelled Redcliffe Leagues’ attacking raids in the first half, but the Redmen looked invigorated after the break.  Marcus McKinnon sliced through the Cobras defence to set up a scoring chance for winger Ian Schultz, who constantly troubled his opponents in the second term, before James McAlpine slammed home a penalty corner shot to draw Redcliffe Leagues level with 15 minutes left.  However, Jacob Burns set up David Brain to hit the backboard to restore Commercial’s lead five minutes later, with Greene sealing the result with one minute to play.  Commercial have beaten Redcliffe Leagues eight times from their past 10 matches.

- Lee Oliver

POINTS:

Easts 15, Commercial 12, Bulimba 12, Labrador 9, University of Queensland 7, Redcliffe Leagues 6, United 6, Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths 3, Valley 3, QUT 1.

LEADING GOAL SCORERS:

8  -  Darran Bisley (Easts)
    -  Tobias Figura (Valley)
7  -  David Brain (Commercial)
    -  James McAlpine (Redcliffe Leagues)
6  -  Tim Bates (Easts)
    -  Jason Wilson (Easts)
4  -  Hamish Baron (University of Queensland)
    -  Dean Butler (Bulimba)
    -  Greg Collins (University of Queensland)
    -  Kieran Dunning (QUT)
    -  Matt Freeman (United)
    -  Duncan Mahoney (Bulimba)
    -  Brad Puleosi (Labrador)
    -  Luke Reddiex (Pine Rivers St Andrews-Norths)

Commercial fullback Brett Churchill tracks Redcliffe Leagues forward Marcus McKinnon.

Commercial goal scorer David Brain about to send a pass.

Redcliffe Leagues' Marcus McKinnon takes to the air as Commercial's Kris Glass winds up.

Compiled by Lee Oliver