NSW Pride Edge Out Thundersticks In Two Classics

NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holders have made a major contribution to the NSW Pride teams who have won their first home fixtures of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League holding out a fast finishing Perth Thundertsticks outfits.

The highly anticipated Sultana Bran Hockey One League top of the table men’s clash between the NSW Pride and the Perth Thundersticks certainly didn’t disappoint, as NSW Pride saw off five penalty corners after the final siren to secure a 4-3 win.

NSW Pride fans were treated to a high-quality match at Sydney Olympic Park, featuring superb goals and even more insane goalkeeping that will undoubtedly be trending across social media platforms for days to come.

The Perth Thundersticks had entered the match with a penalty corner record of 8 goals from 21 attempts but could only muster one deflected finish from their eleven penalty corner opportunities, with Kookaburra and NSWIS athlete Dylan Martin running down three efforts after the final siren.

“We really had to dig deep, especially at the end. Perth really came at us but as you can see, Dylan Martin ran down three at the end and that’s just how we play,” NSWIS scholarship holder and Pride forward Ehren Hazell said after the match.

Ehren had opened the scoring for the hosts in just the sixth minute after lashing home a strike after latching onto skipper Jack Hayes through ball.

“Hayesy just got the ball and I thought I’d just sprint through. He put the perfect ball, nicely weighted, and I saw the goalie staying back, so I just thought I’d hit the crap out of it and it just happened to go in,” Ehren recalled humorously.

After forcing a retake with the ensuing conversion, Ehren doubled the Pride’s advantage with a neat routine that ended with a clinical tomahawk finish.

NSW Pride remain at home to face the Brisbane Blaze next Friday night at Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre, while Perth will return west to host a desperate Tassie Tigers side on Saturday afternoon from 4:30pm local time.

In the women’s match, NSW Pride coach Peter Shea labelled his backline as “solid as a rock”, and he proved correct as his charges ground out a 2-0 victory against a fast finishing Perth Thundersticks in round four of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League action.

In front of 1,241 screaming fans, the Pride held on valiantly in the final quarter to withstand persistent Thundersticks attacking forays.

Often unheralded for her non-nonsense teamwork, NSWIS scholarship holder and NSW Pride’s Sarah Johnston was pivotal in the host’s clean slate to claim the Player of the Match award.

“Really exciting. It was such a great game. We were lucky to get a goal in the first quarter and we absorbed a lot of pressure, so I’m really proud of the girls for grinding it out and really defending as a team for that last quarter,” Sarah said after the game.

“We’re really happy with how we’re going. We’ve had obviously the girls come back from Perth. It’s been really exciting for us to get together and we’re really proud of how we’re continuing to get better.”

The match had begun with NSWIS scholarship holder and Pride forward Grace Stewart, fresh off a hat-trick, firing an early warning side on Thundersticks keeper Aleisha Power’s goal off her tomahawk.

NSW broke the deadlock through an unlikely source in NSWIS scholarship holder and skipper Maddi Smith after a third consecutive penalty corner was taken outside the five and spilled loose at the head of the circle.

Maddi needed no further invitation to pounce, unleashing a tracer bullet forestick shot into the bottom corner in the 21^st minute.

A clinical conversion by Maddi doubled the advantage, putting them firmly in the box seat to cap their first home match with a win.

NSWIS scholarship holder and Pride midfielder Grace Young, Sarah and Maddi were all excellent with their defensive work to ensure they secured back-to-back victories in the Sultana Bran Hockey One League.

The gutsy win now sets up a tantalising encounter at home against the Brisbane Blaze next Friday night in what shapes as a mouth-watering double header in Sydney, while Perth can consolidate their ladder position with victory at home against the Tassie Tigers the following day.

Article courtesy of Hockey One