Cairns Post to livestream Cairns Hockey grand finals
Souths claimed the men’s and women’s Cairns Hockey A-grade premierships in thrilling fashion on the weekend. While Stingers and Brothers were crowned the U18 boys’ and girls’ champions, respectively. WATCH THE REPLAYS
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Felix Trebilcock etched himself into Souths Hockey Club history on Saturday night, delivering the golden goal that won the red and black the 2021 Cairns Hockey A-grade men’s title.
The thrilling 2-1 extra-time triumph over Brothers came after Souths were trailing with less than two minutes left in regulation.
WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE A-GRADE MEN’S GRAND FINAL:
A penalty stroke to Brothers recruit and former Australian Hockey League player with the Tassie Tigers Dougal Middleton – which was awarded after a shot hit a Souths defender on the line midway through the fourth quarter – was all that separated the fierce rivals until that moment.
Souths were pressing hard by then, and roared back into the contest when a Glen Geraghty chaos ball into the circle found teammate Micah Darbyshire, who hammered the equaliser.
But it was former South Australian representative player Trebilcock who claimed hero status on the night, when he dispossessed a Fury defender and drove in the matchwinner after just 20 seconds of extra time.
Brothers were a man down to start the extra-time period, with Nathan Winkel serving a five-minute penalty after picking up a yellow card late in regulation.
“We knew that we had one extra player for the first couple of minutes so I thought we’ve got to press hard, I’m just going to take this guy on and have a shot – and it came off,” Trebilcock said.
“We just wanted to represent how we went the whole year. We played hard and lost one game all season, so we just wanted to make sure we got the win this time.”
Souths co-captain Liam Whipp said the side took the field with a different line-up to try and unsettle Brothers.
“We tried a different line-up that we haven’t tried all season,” he said.
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“If anyone’s watched Cairns Hockey, they know Glen Geraghty’s the quickest man in the league, so we put him to inner and I stepped up into centre half, and I think having Glen closer to the forward line gave us a lot more pace in attack.”
Whipp said Geraghty, who was named player of the final, was one of several teammates that stood up on the night.
He said while he knew it was going to be a stressful game, he didn’t think it was going to be that stressful.
“To be honest, our game plan was just no short corners, no goals,” he said.
“They got their first (short corner) in the last quarter, it broke down at the top of the circle and they didn’t get a shot on goal, but we knew if they did get a flick away, it would pretty much be a goal.
“They got another one a few minutes later, unfortunately it hit my foot and was bladed off, so they got a flick away and it hit Rodney Whipp’s foot on the line, which led to a stroke and that’s how they scored.
“But that’s what we’re all about – playing until the hooter goes.”
The title is Souths’ third in four years, and marks their return to the top, after they were defeated by Saints in last year’s grand final.
WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE UNDER-18 BOYS’ GRAND FINAL:
Cochran seals Souths’ title win
A Sarah Cochran special in the dying seconds of the grand final snatched victory for Souths and secured a hat-trickof Cairns Hockey A-grade women’s premierships.
Cochran was the hero when she buried a strike into the back of the box with only five seconds left on the clock to break Saints’ hearts.
WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE A-GRADE WOMEN’S GRAND FINAL:
With less than 30 seconds left to play, Saints were working the ball out of their half through Chrissee Benn, before it was turned over in a brilliant tackle from Isobella Cochran, Sarah’s younger sister.
Isobella quickly linked up with Souths captain Caitlyn Whipp, who’s pass across the face of goal found striker Cochran, who’s first instinct was to shoot.
“I’m so glad we got the spoil on the sideline, and then it came across to me and I just thought I’d shoot for goal and hope that it goes in,” she said.
Cochran said she was “stoked” the ball went in.
“It was so good and I”m just so happy,” she said.
“It couldn’t have taken us any longer than that, it took us a good 59 minutes to get there.”
Saints’ Kayla Devlin was named player of the final.
Cochran, who was part of Souths’ A-grade women’s triumphs in 2019 and 2020, said she was grateful to be part of the recent successes.
“I love the culture at Souths and it’s so good to win with the same girls the past three years,” she said.
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In fact, Cochran loves the Cairns club so much, she was making special trips back from Brisbane, where she is now based and plays for Commercials in the Brisbane Women’s Hockey Association, to play for Souths during the season.
“I played every weekend in the Brisbane competition, and just flew up here on the weekends when I could,” she said.
Cochran said she had been able to take her hockey to another level in Brisbane.
“It’s been good down there, it’s a really strong team and a strong competition,” she said.
Cochran will take part in the Big Hockey Hit Out on the Gold Coast this month, where Queensland’s rising hockey stars will vie for Brisbane Blaze selection.
WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE UNDER-18A GIRLS’ GRAND FINAL:
Men’s preview – Souths ready for ‘tricky’ Brothers in decider
Souths co-captain Liam Whipp says his side will be wary of Brothers’ “weird” style of play and the problems it can cause when they meet in Saturday’s A-grade men’s decider.
“They’re a tricky one,” he said.
“They definitely play the weirdest style of hockey I’ve ever played against, and just trying to match up to how they play.
“With their line-up, most teams will play three at the front, three through the middle and four across the back.
“But they seem to have three at the back and have a bloke kind of like a rover always going around, which confuses the defence.”
Souths will be fuelled by last year’s heartbreaking 2-1 grand final defeat to Saints as they look to get back on top of the competition, and will go into the big dance on the back of an impressive campaign, in which they lost just once across the 14-game season.
Whipp says the side will be trying to send veteran players Rodney Whipp and Brendan McAllister out with a win.
“They only just came back to help out at the end of the season, so this will probably be the last year they play A-grade,” he said.
Brothers co-captain Peter Sceresini was part of the Fury’s triumph in 2017, and was there when Souths reversed the result in 2019.
He said not getting caught up in the moment would be the focus for Brothers, after it was part of their downfall two years ago.
“The 2019 grand final, I feel like there was a lot of emotion and a lot of energy, even the day before the game, and we just couldn’t stay away from all the atmosphere and the expectations and just play the game,” he said.
“I think there’ll be a big emphasis this year to just chill out and do your regular thing – it’s just another game of hockey, let the ball do the work, leave it all out on the field and try and block out everything else.”
Sceresini said young gun Ryan Cartwright, who was recently named A-grade men’s player of the year at just 15 years of age, was in scintillating form and would be one to watch.
Women’s preview – Saints determined to halt Souths’ reign at top
Souths have the chance to claim a third straight Cairns Hockey premiership, but Saints are determined to spoil the party in Friday’s A-grade women’s grand final.
Saints were defeated 1-0 in last year’s decider, while Souths also edged them out 1-0 the last time they met in round 13, and captain Teneal Kelly said they were ready to throw everything at their long-time rivals to break their stranglehold on the shield.
“It’s definitely been a big goal of ours to get back to the grand final and to try to get a victory this time,” she said.
“We won back in 2018 and were pretty much underdogs for that game too, so it’s always nice to go in as underdogs and then to get a win on top of that is even better.”
She said Souths were Cairns Hockey’s “benchmark” team.
Souths have the big game experience as they chase a third title in a row, but captain Caitlyn Whipp insisted they had a lot of respect for Saints.
“They’re always hungry, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a normal game or the grand final,” she said.
“They’re tough competition and we know that we have to start strong and play the full 60 minutes. If we don’t do that then we know it’s going to be really difficult for us to get in front, so we’re prepared for a hard and fast game.”
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Whipp said Souths striker Sarah Cochran, who also plays for Commercials in the Brisbane Women’s Hockey Association and has been travelling between Cairns and Brisbane this season, would be a “huge” inclusion.
“She’s super fast, super skilful and obviously the club hockey down in Brisbane is quite a high standard, so she brings that level of intensity back into our team,” she said.
She said she was expecting another thrilling encounter, after her 41st minute goal was all that could separate the two sides in last year’s decider.
“I think it will be close all the way until the end,” she said. “I don’t think there’ll be any point right up until that last buzzer where you can be sure of where you’re at.”
Originally published as Cairns Post to livestream Cairns Hockey grand finals
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