The Under 15 Hockey Preliminary Finals were held recently at Blue Lake Sports Park.

Winners in the boys were Portland, who now meet Strikers in the Grand Final, while Redbacks won the girls Preliminary Final and now take on Tigers in the Grand Final.

Under 15 Boys - Portland 6 d West 1

Portland were quick to settle into their team game and worked well together. Portland's forwards brought the ball up the field and earned a free hit at the attacking 25. The free hit was passed to Lauchlan Donehue who took a shot on goal which was saved by West's goal keeper, but Izaac Vanroo was positioned well on the wing for a deflection into goals.

Scores were 5-Nil in Portland's favour at half time. Portland's coach Mick Morrow warned his players not to let it get to their heads, as they will come out strong after half time like Strikers did last week.

That's exactly what happend, as West came out strong, their defence was tighter disallowing any forward movement by Portland. After 10 minutes of play Portland broke through and earned themselves another goal from a deflection off the goalies pads and into the back of the net.

West retaliated by pushing forward in numbers and over-whelming the Portland defence and earning themselves a great field goal by Liam Murphy. The heat began affecting both teams with the result being choices that gave away possession of the ball.

Portland now meet Strikers in the grand final on Saturday at Blue Lake Sports Park.

Result: Portland 6 (I VanRoo 2, L. Donehue 2, B. Stafford 2) d West 1 (L Murphy)
Best - West: J.Ballintyne, D.Nicholson, Z.Kain. Portland: Portland C.Moir, B.Stafford, D.Edwards.

Under 15 Girls - Redbacks 2 d Cavaliers 0

Redbacks came away with a win after a close match with Cavs.

Cavs had ascendency early in the match with a strong opening 10 mins. The redbacks defence of Moira Moore, Kirrallee McPhail and Holly Walker were solid and repelled any attacks.

Late in the first half Daisy Regan had a good run up field but was denied by good defence by Cavs. Redbacks forced a number of corners late in the half but were unable to convert.

The score was nil all at half time.

Redbacks earned a penalty corner early in the second half and Kendall Saffin was awarded a goal after a direct hit rebounded into the goals off a defenders foot.

From there on it was an even game, both teams battling it out in the midfield. Redbacks goalkeeper Alyssa Stapleton made a great save (which was her first for the match) to save a certain goal.

Courtney Walters and Taylor Mann for Cavaliers played very well to keep their team with a chance until a late run from Redbacks saw Bianca Cordes pass to Daisy Regan who converted to make the score 2-0 at full time.

Redbacks now meet Tigers in the Grand Final.

Result: Redbacks 2 (K Saffin, D Regan)
Best - Redbacks: D.Regan, A.cameron, B.Cordez. Cavaliers: C Walters, T Mann, E Page.