TIGERS CLAW OUT WIN TO KEEP HOCKEY TITLE DREAM ALIVE
HOCKEY: The Tigers men live to fight another day.
It took a while for Newtown to find their footing, but once they did they were unstoppable in their 3-2 A1 elimination final victory over Past High at Clyde Park.
Newtown found themselves trailing 1-0 with less than 30 minutes to play, before three goals in a 17-minute span gave them the ascendancy.
“I think we were still pretty confident, we kept trucking along,” player-coach Matt Siebuhr said.
“We went through our processes, and once we got the first one we were able to get a few.
“Everyone wants to play well in finals hockey and the teams are pretty even. If you come out a little off the pace you’ll find yourself behind.
“We were a bit impatient at the start, instead of using the width we kept playing through the middle.”
The win sets up a preliminary final showdown with Norths, who are coming off a 5-1 defeat to minor premiers Red Lion.
Siebuhr said despite their poor record against Norths this season, they’ll take lessons from their previous encounters as they look to shut down a key man.
“Keep the ball away from Kris Glass,” he said.
“They’ve got a couple of good flickers, and if we give them attacking corners they will capitalise on them.
“They’ve been pretty sharp in that area. If they put scoreboard pressure on and we’re chasing, that leaves more gaps that Kris can come into his own.
“Both teams are pretty evenly matched man for man.”
The top two A1 women’s teams were unable to be split, with Past High and Red Lion playing out a 1-all draw.
With the Hawks finishing on top, they advance straight through to the grand final, while Red Lion will face off with Rangeville.
The Bulldogs were at their explosive best with a 3-1 defeat of Newtown.
With their execution from set pieces firing, all three goals to Tatum Stewart, Katie Wollstein and Tammy Williams came from penalty corners to see Rangeville into the preliminary final.