Sharks go hunting a grand final playoff

IT is crunch time for Hockey Geelong’s Vic League 1 women on Sunday when they face Powerhouse/St Kilda in a cutthroat preliminary final at the State Hockey Centre.

After topping the ladder with only one loss in the home and away season, Geelong was upset by Mornington Peninsula, dropping the second semi-final 3-1, last Sunday.

Mornington stunned Geelong with a brilliant start, scoring in the third minute and going 2-0 up after 21 minutes before sealing the match with a third goal in the 53rd minute.

The Sharks need to regroup quickly and will not be taking Powerhouse lightly.

The Albert Park-based outfit was the only team to defeat Geelong in the regular season, following up a 1-1 draw in Round 7 with a 4-0 win just a month ago.

After a tight start, Powerhouse blew the game open with three goals in 10 minutes either side of halftime.

In local preliminary finals tomorrow, Saints Black and Newtown Falcons face off to play Torquay in the Division 1 men’s final, while Torquay meets Saints Black in Division 1 women where Geelong Jaguars await the winner.

In Division 2 men, Saints Red will play the winner of the Torquay-Newtown Spirit preliminary final, with Geelong Jaguars awaiting the winner of the Division 2 women’s clash between Torquay and Golden Plains.

In junior finals, Newtown Strikers will play the winner of the under-17 preliminary final between Torquay and Newtown Spirit; Golden Plains (under-14) will face the winner of the Newtown SpiritTorquay clash; and in under12s, Newtown Rebels will meet the winner of the KardiniaBellarine Lightning game.