Reigning champs relish opportunity to take on unfamiliar Dragons
TWO powerhouse Tasmanian women’s hockey sides will clash for the first time in decades when Premier Hockey League champions OHA meet West Devonport Dragons from noon.
The mouth-watering contest will pit stars Maddy Murphy, Maddi Brooks and Julia Gunn against the cream of the crop in the Greater Northern League (GNL).
The Dragons side contains Tassie Tiger Samantha Lawrence, a former Australian Hockey League winner with Victoria, national under-18 star Madison Clark and Tasmanian indoor representative Angela McAuliffe.
Currently unbeaten in the women’s Premier League across the opening seven rounds, OHA playing-coach Sarah McCambridge is excited by the match-up.
“We’re very excited to have a different opposition to take on this weekend, where West Devonport are a rather unknown quantity for us,” McCambridge said.
“We see this as a great opportunity to see what the GNL team has to throw at us and how their style of play might differ from ours.
“While we see ourselves as favourites, we never take any game lightly and we treat it like we would any other game.”
Elsewhere, University will be underdogs against 2021 Cup runners-up South Launceston when it travels up the highway for a 1pm pushback.
That’s followed at 2.30pm when Queechy Penguins, lying second on the ladder, host 2021 Cup winners North-West Graduates. It’ll be a contest between the high-scoring Isabella McRobbie on the Penguins forward line versus the best defensive group in the state, led by Grad’s Louisa Jacobson.
Derwent women have already progressed to the semi-finals from their fixture against Smithton Saints.