Belief Stingers will be at season’s tail

TRINITY Stingers captain Apara Brewster-O’Brien believes his side has the potential to go all the way in the condensed season, as long as they improve with every game.

Stingers kept their hopes of a Cairns Hockey Association A-grade title alive with a come-from-behind win over Brothers yesterday afternoon.

Brothers put up a good fight and went into attack from the first whistle, while Stingers also had good passages of play in the circle.

Both teams fought hard to keep possession and the play moved up and down the field with neither team gaining any dominance.

That was until the final minute of the first half, when Brothers hit the lead off a Brayden Naess field goal.

The Fury absorbed a wave of pressure early in the second half, as Stingers searched for the equaliser.

It would eventually come in the 40th minute, when Brewster-O’Brien slipped one past Brothers keeper Matthew Reichardt.

Stingers’ Brent Garske scored ten minutes later to give his side a 2-1 lead.

Despite a valiant effort from the Fury, Stingers thwarted their last-ditch attempts to snatch a draw.

“It was definitely a hard game,” Brewster-O’Brien said.

“I think there was a few lapses that we had but I think we stuck with the game plan for most of the game.

“It was a must-win for us, so we’re pretty happy that we got the win.

“I think we’ll be knocking on the third position.

“We’re trying a few new structures this year, so we’re building on that as a team. As the games go on, we’ll get better at our structures and we’ll play better as a team.”

The skipper said he was proud of the composure his side showed after conceding a late goal in the first half.

“At half time we just made sure we were still very clear with all our roles and with the game plan that we had put in place,” he said.

“It was just really important that we stuck to the structure, so I was really happy with how we played in the second half.”

Brewster-O’Brien said he was impressed with young striker Garske.

“He’s one of our prominent strikers but this was his first win for the club and first goal as well,” he said. “He was a real pivotal player for us today.

“He’s just so quick on ball, which he showed to score the goal to give us the lead.”

It was the second game in as many days for both sides, with an extra round of fixtures added to the weekend as part of Cairns Hockey’s shortened season.

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