Stix in a battle to find rhythm

THE Commonwealth Games continue to wreak havoc on Labrador’s Brisbane Hockey League campaign, with the 2017 grand finalists battling for form ahead of a mouth-watering clash with top-of-the-table Commercial.

While the Tigerstix moved into third place with a comefrom-behind win over Valley at Carina on Saturday, their 5-2 triumph was not pretty.

They trailed 2-0 early in the second half before a run of three goals, from Blake Wotherspoon (two) and Joe Reardon, in five minutes eased the nerves.

Josh Baxter and Sam Young then found the net late to seal the visitors’ third win of the season, but they will need to lift to challenge unbeaten Commercial on May 12.

Labrador’s Keith Hunt Park home remains unavailable until mid-May because of the Games, with captain Reardon conceding their disrupted training routine was playing a part in their rustiness.

“It was a little bit of a scrappy start (on Saturday). We’re only training once a week at Runaway Bay, so I think it’s going to be like that until we get back to two sessions a week at our home ground,” he said.

“I just think having one less session a week you don’t get

the opportunity to work on combinations as much, especially with the young side we have this year. It takes us half a game to settle in.

“Commercial are always a massive test for us – they’re on top of the ladder at the moment – and we’re still just working hard with a young squad. It should be close.”

One of 12 Labrador players who will line up at this weekend’s Queensland Super League, Reardon is confident his side can find top gear later in the season.

“The goal is always to play semi finals and once we get a full team back together and training, I think we will be competitive and back in the semis.

“You want to finish top three so you get that second chance and if we play well we can do that but it will be very tough because it’s a bit of a young squad this year. We know we’ve got our work cut out for us.”