The division three women's hockey competition this year has just two games to go. The top four is set, but not the order in the top four.

Redbacks are safe in fourth but can not get any higher, but West ,Tigers and Riddoch Strikers are all still fighting for the top 3 positions with a double chance at stake and a chance to go straight to the grand final for the winner of the qualifing final.

West and Tigers just played last week and an under manned Wests struggled to keep Tigers down to 3 goals. West play strikers this week and Redbacks next week. This has dented their chance to grab top spot, and could drop to 3rd. Lisa Jewell has had a good year at full back and also comes up to take short corners and the opposition fear her big hitting.

Tigers Sonya Wilson is in great form controlling the centre well and Tigers and Strikers play in the last round and this could be to decide the top 3 order for the finals. Leanne Martin-Brown is one of the main forces behind strikers and if she gets a lot of the ball Strikers should win.

Hockey Highlights this coming week include:

• Under 13 preliminary finals Saturday morning;
• Div2 women Saturday Drifters and West in a battle for second spot;
• Under 15 girls Sunday morning could see a grand final preview WestPort v Redbacks;
• Div3 women Saturday West v Strikers for second spot and the double chance; and
• Div3 men Sunday sees Cavaliers v Tigers Black in maybe their last chance to grab 4th.

Game Reports

Division 1 Men - Strikers 5 defeated Cavaliers 3

Both teams where obviously missing members, but both sides seemed to be evenly matched. The strikers were out to try and improve their season after a disappointing effort up until now. The game started fast with both sides looking to get an early advantage. The new look Strikers with Dylan Broad in defence showed what they could do with a great passing game. Dylan and David Saunders linked well down the right hand side and with Will Miles controlling the centre and Tim Bailey looking for some goals up front the Strikers put a lot of pressure on the Cav's defence.
The first goal went to Cavaliers through a short corner but the Strikers continued hard and went into the half time break with a goal advantage. The second half saw the Strikers push hard and score multiple goals in a short time with all attacking players having a shot or two. Will Miles showing how to flick with a great goal, and Mat Boylan scoring his first for the year. The final 15 minutes saw the Strikers try and push home their advantage leaving the defence open a little and letting Cav's score a couple of quick goals but Strikers still held their advantage.

Goal Scorers: Tim Bailey 1, Mat Boylan 2, Will Miles 1, Dylan Broad 1

Division 2 Men - Portland 2 defeated Strikers 1

The Riddoch Strikers Division 2 team played its second double header for the season when they took on Portland Friday night and then travelled to Naracoorte Sunday. With several key position players missing, the team had a different look about it for both games.

Warm Friday night conditions greeted the players from both sides, a far cry from the wet cold conditions the Strikers played in 2 weeks ago. Both sides had good numbers and the depth of these rotations would be the key to which side would outlast the other.

Portland started the quickest moving into the Strikers defensive circle from the first centre pass. Dylan Broad playing down was showing his skills in defence repelling the attack and allowing the Strikers mid fielder to move into the game. With both teams defensive players controlling play it was going to be difficult for the forwards to score and this saw no goals scored in the first half.

The second half was more open as the play started to be more down the wings; this allowed Portland to score 2 quick goals to which the Strikers replied to with a goal to Dylan Broad. The Strikers continued to attack the Portland goals but without success, the games finished 2-1 to Portland.

Goal Scorers: Dylan Broad1

Division 2 Men - Rams 3 defeated Strikers 1

Sunday saw the Strikers travel to Naracoorte to take on the Naracoorte Rams. A hail storm greeted the travellers as they drove into Naracoorte but the team was to have more luck with the weather than the curtain raiser match prior to theirs.

Playing on grass the Strikers team played a loose man in defence to attempt to open up the midfield but this was countered by Naracoorte playing a ‘pagan's' paddock style forward line. This caught the Strikers defence napping and Naracoorte scored 2 quick goals in the first 10 minutes of the match. A Strikers penalty Stoke was scored by Will Miles to keep the Strikers team in the match going into half time.

David Coombe was playing a blinder in goals saving one off the goal line. Rob Stephenson tried in vain to keep the relentless attack of the Naracoorte forwards and he was assisted gallantly by Darren Cox and Ben Provis but it was to no avail, Naracoorte scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes to run out winners 3-1.

Division 2 Men - Tigers 5 defeated cavaliers 2

Tigers hosted a Cavaliers team full of confidence and some old faces back.

The game started at a frantic pace with Cavs dominating the first ten minutes with Tim Manterfield scoring a nicely worked goal. That probably worked against Cavs as Travis Doll was unleashed onto the pitch with instant results. Shane Fenwick slotted a shot into the top corner right on half time to go into the break at one all.

After the break Cavs came out very slowly with Travis Doll and Greg Cooper taking full advantage of a team in disarray which resulted in four goals being scored off short corners to Tigers. Cavs settled a little late and scored a consolation goal to Simon Myers.

Division 2 Women - Drifter 3 defeated Portland 1

From the first whistle the game between Drifters and Portland Div 2 women was a very fast and high standard game. Drifters were first to score when Tracey Pulford intercepted a ball out of Portlands defence and layed a pass onto the stick of Sue England who ran the ball into a open goal. For the remainder of the first half the game saw many fast breaks by both sides but tight defence and some great goal keeping from both teams had half time score at 1 nil.

The second half was very similar to the first fast with both teams holding strong in defence. Drifters were fortunate to score a further 2 goals the last coming again off the stick of Sue England, but the score was not reflective of the high standard free flowing game played by both sides.

Division 2 Women - Tigers 4 defeated Cavaliers 1

As soon as the whistle was blown the competition was on with Tigers putting forth a strong attack with Cavaliers forced to constantly defend. Cavaliers had limited bursts in attack but all shortly lived. Tigers' excellent team work and skilled passes left Cavaliers in their wake.

Many short corners were awarded to Tigers with no result due to relentless pressure and tackling from Cavaliers Alex Price, Fiona Emerson and goalie Mel Johnston. It was only a matter of time and Tigers attack finally paid off with 2 strong goals. Bianca Taylor and Kylie Cook being instrumental to the Tiger attack. Both teams went to the break with Tigers up 2-0.

The second half once again started off well for the Tigers by opening with a quick goal from Bianca Taylor. Natalie Paxford played well for Cavaliers after many weeks away but thankfully helped Cavaliers attack.

Late in the second half Cavaliers eventually went into attack forcing a short corner with no goal. A few minutes later a great back pass from a long corner to Judy Harradine set up a perfect goal for Alex Price for the Cavaliers. Finally Cavaliers were on the board. Tigers were quick to answer to this with another quick goal of their own resulting from a stick deflection no one sure who had the final touch.

Division 3 Women - Strikers 2 defeated Cavaliers 1

With the sun shining brightly and a very warm temperature of 21oC Cavaliers came out hard and scoring quickly off the mark with a fighting goal by Casey Stevenson. Strikers tried quickly to follow with several attempts at goal not coming off, but equalising the score with a superb goal, followed quickly with another, bringing the score to 2-1 before half time. Cavalier's young line-up fought hard all game and maintained much of the play, but struggled to penetrate Strikers more senior defence. The experience of Strikers forwards led the successful attacks on goal giving Strikers the clear win on the day.

Results

Division 1 Men

strikers 5 d cavaliers 3
goals- strikers m.boylan 2, d.broad 1, t.bailey 1 cavs- a. legutko , s.talbot 1
best strikers w.miles, d.coombe, d.saunders cavs- n.malinowski, t.wooldridge, s.talbot

tigers 4 d westport 1
goals tigers m.carne 2, d.turner 1, g.doll 1 westport c.calliss 1
best tigers l.hunter , w.little, b.mccourt west r.honeybun, c.calliss, p.white

Division 2 Men

portland 2 d strikers 1
goals - portland m.jason 2 -- strikers d. broad 1
best- portland c.durren, d.moore, t.andy strikers w.miles, d.cox, d.broad

tigers 5 d cavaliers 2
g- s.fenwick 2, t.doll 1, t.earl 1, g cooper 1
cavs- t.manterfield 1, s. myers 1
best - t c.crute, s.hunter, t.doll cavs t.holmes, a.grant, i. emerson

rams 3 d strikers 1
g- rams-d.smith 1, b.rumball 1, t.harris 1 strikers w.miles 1
best- rams j.martin, t.harris, b.rumball strikers w.miles, d.edwards, d.ingenito

west 5 d redbacks 2

Division 3 Men

musketeers 4 d strikers 0
goals d.fowler 3, n.wilke 1
best musk n.wilke, l.knightley, d.fowler strikers n.copping, g.taylor, m.gallager

tigers gold 3 d cavaliers 0
goals w.trench 1, s.martin 1, s.bartholew 1
best tigers s.bartholew, g.atkinson, d.holliday cavs w.duddy, d.rogers, d.durbidge

west 1 drew redbacks 1
goals west d.herzig 1 redbacks j.denys 1
best west s.thompson, d.kenseley,m.jennings
redbacks m.armour, g.mckay, b.slarks

portland 2 d tigers black 1
goals port f.fansworthy 1, w.reddry 1 tigers s.wlker 1
best port m.risk, b.holman, w.reddy tigers d.nichols, s.walker, g.clark