Underdogs find form in upset win
SAINTS produced a remarkable turnaround in the Cairns Hockey A-grade women’s competition on Saturday night, beating Brothers 5-0 to book a grand final berth.
A week earlier, Brothers scored five goals of their own to win 5-2 in a match that raised eyebrows.
There had been talk in hockey circles that Saints took the foot off the pedal in that match to deny Trinity a place in the finals, but that claim was rejected by Saints captain Rhylee Pendrigh.
“We definitely did not throw that game. It’s just not in our nature,” she said.
“I heard people say that, but I think that just takes away from how well Brothers played in that game.”
Pendrigh said her side had learnt lessons from the loss and came out firing in Saturday’s preliminary final.
“We knew we had to start well otherwise they would get the jump on us again,” she said.
“We talked about not taking the foot off the pedal.”
Saints raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening half and managed to defend with expertise in the second stanza to secure a spot in the grand final against Souths, which has lost only one game this season.
“They have been the benchmark all season, but we’ve had a couple of tough, close games against each other. We have beaten them, so we know we can do it,” Pendrigh said.
Standouts for the Saints included centre-half Chrissee Benn, youngsters Payton Findlay and Kloe Dunbar-Reid, along with Hannah Sealby.
Souths will be represented in both A-grade grand finals after their men’s team produced a 3-2 win against Trinity Stingers in the preliminary final.
Souths led 2-1 at half-time and 3-1 early in the second half, but had to defend numerous attacks.
“It was a cracking game of hockey,” Souths coach Jason Fowler said. “I think it was by far one of the fastest games we’ve played all year.”
John Gibson was a standout, scoring two goals.