Lions and Strikers in it to win it

CANTERBURY and Derwent will both go searching for their maiden victories in 2020 when the pair kickstart Round 3 of women’s Premier League hockey action from 1.15pm.

The Strikers welcome back premiership defender Louise Maddock, while the Lions regain Lillian Gates in midfield for the must-win clash.

“I said to the girls tonight at training I was incredibly impressed by the level of their basics, a clear indicator of how much work girls put in over the lockdown period,” Lions assistant coach Jess Blake said.

“For an improvement we are working on jelling as a team and last week for three quarters of the game we felt that we did that well.

“Derwent are coming off a tough game last week, but they are a talented and competitive bunch of girls, I am sure they will come out the gates strong on Saturday.”

North-West Graduates forward Josie Crowden will be out to maintain her goal-a-game average since crossing over from Canterbury, with the Bulldogs facing University at 2.45pm today.

“We get Sarah Pascoe back which is nice and last week was a good performance, but we still have room for improvement,” Graduates coach Josh Mardell said.

“We created plenty of shooting opportunities, but this week will be tough as Uni are very organised and tough to break down.”

Undefeated duo OHA and DiamondBacks clash at 4.15pm with both sides having barely put a foot wrong either side of the break.

Ships coach Sarah McCambridge has labelled the Maroons as possibly their strongest opponent for the season and can’t wait to see her squad test their skills against them.

Julia Gunn (OHA) and Lauren Smith (DiamondBacks) are coming off braces last weekend, while the battle between attacking midfielders Philly Bridley and Madison Brooks for DiamondBacks and OHA respectively will be the centre of intrigue.