Western Australia defeat Victoria Vikings 3-1 to ride into Australian Hockey League Finals
Sam Pike scored twice in the crucial fixture, as the Men’s hockey line-up of Western Australia marked a 3-1 triumph over Victoria Vikings at the Sydney Olympic Park on August 13 and grabbed a spot in the title-clash match in the Australian Hockey League
(AHL).
Despite having victories in their hands, the Victorians failed to deliver in the crucial game and lost the golden chance to make through to the gold-medal game.
In the encounter, the Victorian squad attempted to take the disciplined attacking line of Western Australia down but it was not an easy task at all. In a bid to grab the early lead, the Victorians started fast-paced game and scored first goal of the game
in the 11th minute of the mark. Justin Ellis was the player who notched the maiden score and put his team to the front.
However, the players from Western Australia were not sitting motionless. In their counter-offence, Sam Pike converted a short corner in the 23rd minute and had it all even at 1-1. With three minutes remaining into the first half, Craig Boyne managed
a goal from the field and doubled the tally. Amazingly, Pike expanded the lead through a penalty conversion in the concluding seconds of the first half.
It was the complete action from both sides, as both the Western Australia and Victorian Vikings failed to make an addition onto the scoreboard in the second frame. Western Australia after the seventy minutes of play not only won the game but qualified for
the title-claiming match.
In another classification match of the day, Tasmania outplayed Northern Territory (NT) by a single goal, 2-1. Both Tasmania and NT opened up the fixture in quite slow way and made few penetrations against each other in the early minutes of the match.
With the passage of time, the Tasmanian squad started establishing their dominance over the field and earned numerous short corners. Leon Hayward, the NT custodian was brave enough to block all the efforts and kept his side in the game.
Veteran short corner master Luke Doerner was not part of the Tasmanian side that left much impact on attacking line. Both teams failed to touch the scoreboard in the first thirty-five minutes.
In the second set of play, Sam McCambridge converted a short corner in the 42nd minute and put NT under heavy pressure. In a matter of fourteen minutes, Nick Budgeon scored a goal through a penalty conversion and increased the advantage. With
four minutes remaining in the regular period, Ben Poulton though scored a goal from field but it could not save them from defeat. The Tasmanians walked off the field with a 2-1 victory.
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