Triston Parker of Pine Rivers St Andrews attempts a tackle on Chris Gilmour
of Labrador. Photo by Fred Husted.

Michael Bates rounds Pine Rivers St Andrews goalkeeper Chris Dick before
scoring his and Labrador's second goal of the game. Photo by Fred Husted.

Saints defender Craig Richards sizes up Tigerstix attacker Joe Reardon. Photo
by Fred Husted.

BRISBANE HOCKEY LEAGUE – Preliminary Final

Labrador 3 (Michael Bates 2, Sam Barker) defeated Pine Rivers St Andrews 2 (Luke Reddiex, Ryan Gibbs) at the State Hockey Centre, Colmslie.

Labrador extended their remarkable winning run in the finals, holding off a fast finishing Pine Rivers St Andrews outfit to qualify for their first Brisbane hockey grand final. Having previously downed Redcliffe Leagues and Bulimba in knockout encounters, Labrador dominated the opening stanza of the match against the Saints. The Tigerstix established a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes with two goals to Michael Bates, the second seeing the striker round Saints goalkeeper Chris Dick and push the ball into an empty goal from near the backline. The Saints, whose first genuine attack on the Labrador goal came 15 minutes into the match, had shots from Craig Smith, Nick Bolton and Luke Reddiex saved by Labrador goalkeeper Matt Woods and fullback Kane Hancock. Labrador’s first two passes of the second half almost resulted in a goal, with Bates fielding Brent Labrador’s long overhead pass, but a sliding Sam Barker couldn’t connect with Bates’ cross into the circle. The Tigerstix extended their lead to three goals soon after, when Barker’s drag flick beat Dick and hit the back of the net. The Saints responded just two minutes later, getting on the scoreboard when Luke Reddiex rocketed a drag flick into the goal from a penalty corner play. Ryan Kilpatrick, Andrew Richards and Craig Smith then came close to scoring for the Saints, who began to heap the pressure on the Tigerstix defence. With the Gold Coast side under the pump, the Saints took advantage of Labrador midfielder Kyle Gildea being sent off for five minutes for a rash sliding tackle on Richards. In a grandstand finish, Ryan Gibbs deflected Smith’s penalty corner shot past Woods to make the score 3-2 with four minutes left, before a nail-biting conclusion to the match. In the final play of the game, a Reddiex drag flick from a penalty corner beat the goalkeeper, but the ball struck the post - striking a terminal blow to the Saints’ hopes of reaching their first top-grade grand final since 1975 – Lee Oliver.

Craig Richards chases Michael Bates down the sideline. Photo by Fred Husted.

Brent Livermore feeds the ball to a teammate. Photo by Fred Husted.

Saints defender Craig Richards gets a pass away. Photo by Fred Husted.

Chris Dick tries to save a shot from a Labrador penalty corner. Photo by Fred
Husted.

Labrador substitute Corey Piggin on the attack. Photo by Fred Husted.

Compiled by Lee Oliver.

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