OHA confident Smith will star

IT’S been a big 12 months for OHA star midfielder Oliver Smith and club coach Nick Leslie believes there is plenty more to come.

Smith was named Player of the Final in last year’s men’s Premier League grand final and recently scored the winning penalty shootout goal to secure Tasmania its first under-21 men’s national title.

Yesterday, Smith’s rise was rewarded with his debut selection in the Tassie Tigers Australian Hockey League squad and he is set to play a key role in their top-two clash with Derwent at 3pm.

“I know Ollie has all the foundations to go very far in his career,” Leslie said.

“He has been phenomenal so far this season and is very deserving of getting the chance to train and play at the highest level we have in Australia.”

The two sides will compete for the Josh Harris Cup, in recognition of the life member of both clubs.

Derwent has recalled Ewan Vickery, James Clifford, Stuart Webb and Hugh Flassman from last week’s disappointing 0-0 draw with DiamondBacks.

“There couldn’t be any more motivation to redeem ourselves from last week’s poor performance, and as a group we don’t accept that kind of effort,” defender Torin Bester said. “We need to make the most of our opportunities going forward, where we are creating the chances but need to be better at converting and creating scoreboard pressure.”

North-West Graduates can leapfrog back into the top two with victory against DiamondBacks at 6pm, while University can all but secure a finals berth with victory against Canterbury at 4.30pm.