Read racking up goals
THE Premier League’s leading marksman was at his ruthless best again on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick of penalty corner goals to seal University’s crucial come-from-behind 3-2 win against North-West Graduates.
Going into the match level on points, the result consolidated the Students in third position, while Graduates slipped out of the top four.
Ben Read, a high school teacher, moved level with Canterbury’s Sam McCulloch at top of the goal-scoring charts with 14 goals, five clear of their nearest rivals, the Derwent pair of Liam Grundy and Angus Boulton.
“It’s always nice to knock a few goals in, but they don’t mean anything unless they are contributing to Uni collecting points,” Read said.
“Every game is massive for us now until the end of the season and the guys are ready to seize the opportunity.”
He said he was bitterly disappointed to miss Tassie Tigers selection last year and had been working harder offfield in the recognition that a different on-field role would be required at Hockey One level.
“I’ve been really pleased with my recent form. It seems to have coincided with me playing less golf and increasing the amount of running I’m doing each week to try to give myself a chance of Tassie Tigers selection,” Read said.
“With Uni I have a fair bit of freedom and that changes a lot with the Tigers, as I always have a focus on retaining possession of the ball and winning my one-on-one defensive battles. I’ve had a few flicks with reasonable success over the years for the Tigers, but it’s a lot harder with Jeremy Hayward in the squad, who scores bulk corner goals for Australia, so I’m down the pecking order.”
Since 2017, Read has been the Premier League’s top scorer with 119 goals, well clear of next best OHA’s Sam McCambridge (104 goals) and North-West Graduates’ Jai Walker-Kidd (93). Boulton has been the other dominant goal scorer across the past six season with 91 goals, while McCulloch rounds out the top five over this period with 67 goals.
“I’ve been pipped on the last day of the season a couple of times, but unfortunately come second or third in the past seven of the past eight seasons, I think,” Read said.
He will look to take the lead at the head of the Premier League scoring charts in his own right this weekend, with University taking on secondplaced Canterbury at noon.