Rockhampton Hockey: Wanderers beat Southern Suburbs in A1 women’s grand final

Gallery: Wanderers A1 women end Southern Suburbs’ five-year winning streak with hard-fought grand final win on Saturday.

Mother and daughter Christine and Amy Woods were part of the victorious Wanderers A1 women’s team.

Mother-daughter duo Christine and Amy Woods are celebrating after playing lead roles in Wanderers A1 women’s hard-fought grand final win on Saturday.

The defensive duo stood tall in the team’s 2-1 win over reigning champions Southern Suburbs.

In photos: Rockhampton Hockey A1 women’s grand final

VIEW GALLERY

Wanderers went on to claim the A1 double, with their men scoring a 3-nil win in their grand final, also against Souths.

Christine, who turns 48 on Tuesday, said it was “really special” to win the premiership with Amy, 13.

“You see them grow and come through the grades and then to actually share in that sort of success with them is really rewarding,” she said.

Amy said it was great to play alongside her mum, who was always supportive and encouraging her to back herself and give it everything.

Christine and Amy agreed that it was their team’s desperation and want that got them home against Souths, who had won five straight premierships heading into season 2021.

Teammate Demi Fraser said Wanderers always knew it would be a tough game - and it was just that.

Wanderers scored a 2-1 win over Southern Suburbs in Rockhampton Hockey’s A1 women’s final on Saturday.

She scored the first goal of the game, slotting a penalty corner early in the opening quarter.

Wanderers held that lead at half-time, but Souths levelled early in the third quarter courtesy of a deft touch in the circle from Alex Buckley.

With the score at 1-all, both teams fought desperately to break the deadlock, with the game going from end to end.

It was Wanderers’ Emma Burkitt who sealed it with a goal eight minutes from full-time.

Fraser said it was fantastic to finally break Souths’ stranglehold.

“I’m super proud of the girls. It’s been a long time coming,” she said.

The Wanderers A1 women and coaching staff celebrate their grand final win.

“The Souths girls have held the Rocky premiership for quite a few years so it’s good to finally break their cycle and get back on top.

“We went in knowing that we had to stick to our game plan, rather than playing their style of hockey.

“I think we just gutsed it out. Shutting down their midfield was really important, their key players are there, and I think we did that really well.”

Fraser said Maggie Pembroke and Toni Chirio were two of the team’s best, their work rate outstanding and their ball control impressive.

She said it was a great result for Christine and Amy.

“They’re really valuable members of our team,” she said.

“Christine is a good, calm head at the back. She’s very steady, very strong, and Amy is following in her footsteps.”

Wanderers and Southern Suburbs played a hard-fought grand final on Saturday.

Souths’ coach Lisa Morgan could not fault the effort of her players.

“I was pleased with everyone, they all did the job I asked, but we just weren’t good enough today,” she said.

“We’ve been close all season and Wanderers put their chances in and we couldn’t put ours in.

“I think it was always going to be about those opportunities.

“It’s a bitter pill, we’ve had a lot of success in premierships, but I can’t take anything away from Wanderers. They played good hockey and they’ve got a lot of talent.

“We’ll come back next year and try to knock them off.”

Morgan praised goalkeeper Chelsea Scholes who she said produced her best performance of the season, as well as Buckley and Aleesha Spyve who worked tirelessly all game.