Saints to face Souths

HOCKEY SAINTS will yet again have the chance for vengeance against Souths after ousting Brothers from the A-grade women’s grand final race.

A rocket start of three goals in the opening 10 minutes all but sealed Saints’ march to the deciders and the experienced campaigners turned the screws in the second half to make sure a 4-1 halftime lead would not go to waste in Sunday’s semifinal.

Saints veteran Rhylee Pendrigh said the timing was impeccable to turn around a history of slow starts this season, leading to the 4-2 win.

“Traditionally we’ve been really slow starters and it was something we talked about before the game, but we didn’t expect to start that well,” she said.

“We talked at halftime about not switching but we definitely switched off. We were in third gear most of that second half.

“It did kind of look like they were going to come back at one stage but there were just so many goals for them to peg back.”

Pendrigh has played in losing grand finals against Souths in the past two years but said the consistency of this Saints squad gave her confidence this year would be different.

“I feel like we’ve got a really good team this year and I feel like this team could definitely take out a grand final,” she said.

Pendrigh shelved retirement plans to play this season and has been nominated for player of the year honours.

Brothers coach Terry Brodin said his side was made to for their errors, which they would learn from next season.

“They got three really quick goals on the back of our errors at the start and we didn’t react quick enough,” he said.

“They’ve got a core group of very experienced players who know how to play finals and our average age is maybe 21, so we don’t have the depth of experience other clubs have, but that will eventually come for us if the girls stick to it.”

Brodin said despite the loss, the players should be proud of their efforts, which would inspire more players to return to the club next season.

He said the final would be an interesting contest between the experienced Saints team and the youthful exuberance of Souths.

“It could go either way. I really don’t know,” he said.

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