LABRADOR WIN BHL
THE storyline was set in stone, that Easts and Labrador would battle hammer and tongs for an hour before the Brisbane Hockey Association Division 1 premiership was won in the last minute.
And so it was the case on Saturday at the State Hockey Centre when, on a raindrenched surface, Labrador’s Blake Wotherspoon drag flicked a penalty corner into the goal 60 seconds from fulltime on the biggest day of the season, sealing a 2-1 win.
“As you expect,’’ said Labrador coach Darren Fowler in
reference to Wotherspoon’s sparkling finish to the match.
“He was player of the match and has class written all over him.’’
“Dylan who?” a cheeky Labrador supporter said as Wotherspoon then walked up to accept his player of the match award, a comment referencing Blake emerging from the shadow of his Australian playing brother Dylan.
Fowler said it was a case of “running for your mates’’ and the win was more relief than anything else because of all the hard work the Labrador players had done.
Easts had a chance five
minutes from time, only for Labrador goalie Aaron Weiss to knock away a scorching shot launched by Tyler Spry.
Easts captain Hugh Pembroke said he was “super proud’’ of his team, while heaping praise on the premiership-winning opposition.
“It was a tough game, in tough conditions and you (Labrador) stuck to it right to the end,’’ Pembroke said.
Fowler said wet conditions made the decider a real slog.
“It was going to be close and the conditions made it not the normal hockey that both teams play – it was not so much about control
through the midfield, it was about putting the ball into the corners, into the puddles,” he said. “It was almost like grass hockey in the old days.”
It took just 19 minutes for the competition’s leading goalscorer, Wotherspoon, to get on the scoresheet and give Labrador the upper hand.
From a penalty corner, Wotherspoon drag-flicked a shot that was saved by Easts keeper Casey Lee.
But from the rebound Wotherspoon advanced deeper into the inner circle to regain possession and beat the goalie with his second attempt.
However, the match was
back on equal footing just three minutes into the second half when Easts’ James Easton scored, sparking a huge roar from the Tigers dug-out.
Not long after, Easts were on the attack again and created a near-miss, with Scott Boyde cannoning the ball into the woodwork from an acute angle as the match lifted in intensity.
Earlier, after kick-off was delayed an hour by wet weather, Easts had the better of the opening quarter. But Labrador got a bit more comfortable in a match that was evenly poised until Wotherspoon’s late brilliance.