Graduates out to pour pain on Canterbury

Hockey

NORTH-WEST Graduates hope to seize on their momentum and dent Canterbury’s men’s hockey Premier League finals hope when the teams meet at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Graduates sit a game clear and looked sharp in the early stages before taking their foot off the gas to defeat DiamondBacks 6-0 on Thursday.

“Our start was good. We moved the ball well and had a number of good pressure acts and scored five goals,” coach Stephen McMullen said.

“I thought our intensity dropped off in the second half and DiamondBacks lifted. We got through without any injuries or concerns, and I was able to rest some players.”

The Lions go in with an additional two days’ recovery time but after consecutive losses that see them sitting outside the top four.

“Canterbury are a muchimproved team who are now more balanced across the whole field with multiple contributors,” McMullen said.

“They are one win out of the top four, so they have extra motivation. They have also had two extra days’ break than us so will be a bit fresher.”

Canterbury is likely to be without Kurt Budgeon and Allan Dale, needing Luc Redman and Angus Yeates to rise to the challenge.

Derwent opens Round 9 against DiamondBacks from 1pm and will need to find avenues to goal without Torin Bester, Keegan Popowski, Stuart Webb and Ewan Vickery.

The Snakes will be hoping Jack Pritchard, Grant Woodcock and Oliver Pritchard can continue their strong form.

An all-action encounter is expected when University and OHA push back at 4pm, with University’s Will Mollross returning midweek and scoring two goals.

OHA striker Sam McCambridge showed his explosiveness, scoring after 14 seconds against Derwent and looms as a potential match winner.