East Darwin Storm start season in style with 5-1 win over Waratah

East Darwin men and women continued their perfect start to the TPL season with both recording statement wins. Read the action.

Easts Darwin Women's A-grade side lifting the DHL23 premiership trophy after defeating Commerce Pints 3-2 in the grand final.

The East Darwin Storm continued their great start to the season after downing the Nightcliff Tigers at the weekend.

In the men’s clash, Darwin downed the Tigers 3-1 in what was a very mature performance.

With just the two subs on the bench and a more senior roster, the Storm got right into their work from the off.

It took till the 12th minute for Darwin to get on the scoresheet, courtesy of Tim Lee who received a lob from the back, darted down the right sideline, wove in and out of the Tigers defensive line and slotted the ball bottom left.

East controlled the momentum and run of play for the rest of the quarter and maintained this pressure in the second, scoring twice to go up 3-0 into the break.

Nightcliff regrouped and looked far more together and organised in the third, taking much more care in possession and set up their plays rather than rushing and pushing the occasion and scored their only goal of the game with five left on the clock.

Karl Hochman and Joe Lauritsen were immense at the back for Darwin. Picture: Hockey NT.

The final term was a bit of a lethargic back and forth, Easts understaffed and Tigers unable to break East’s defensive wall of Joe Lauritsen and Karl Hochman.

“Thankfully we went hard on fitness in the pre-season because after we went down to just the one sub, we became a lot more fatigued in the second half,” Lauritsen said after the game.

“We (Easts) like to play at our own pace and style and not get dragged into how our opponents are playing.

“And I think that was evident today as we would work our way from the back, to the middle to the front, whereas Tigers were doing a lot of quick counter attacks, using their speed.

“I feel like we played really well for the majority of the game, we had great circle opportunities and capitalised on some early which gave us a cushion into the second.

One part of East’s defensive dynamic duo, Lauritsen said that his team would be happy with the points but would need to sort out their work in the second 40 of the game.

“Hochman and I have been playing together for years now and we’ve got a good relationship and know each other’s game really well so we have a lot of trust,” he said.

“Our second half definitely wasn’t anywhere near as good as our first.

“To go from scoring three goals in the first to allowing the one and scoring none in the second, is pretty painful.

“You can always get mad about how you played at certain times in a game, but we did finish with the win and that’s what counts at the end of the day.”

ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Women

East Darwin 12 def. 0 Nightcliff Tigers

– Isabelle O’Conor (3 goals), Camille O’Conor, Corinna Murray, Emily Chaffey, Isobel Cowell (2 goals), Lauren Mutton (1 goal)

Commerce-Pints 2 def. 0 Waratah

– Lisa Stevens, Macenzee Dixon (1 goal)

Palmerston Saints 2 draw 2 Banks

– Dani Beasy, Leah Atkinson (1 goal)

– Jemma Borg, Jessica McClatchy (1 goal)

MEN

East Darwin 3 def. 1 Nightcliff Tigers

– Joe Lauritsen, Tim Lee, Tobias Jenner (1 goal)

– Luke Broadway (1 goal)

Waratah 3 draw 3 Commerce-Pints

– Brendan Evans (3 goals)

– Baden Dixon (2 goals), Nathaniel Still (1 goal)

Banks 3 def. 1 Palmerston Saints

– Darren Nunn (2 goals), Michael Williams (1 goal)

– Adam Luck (1 goal)

ROUND 1

The inaugural weekend of the Territory Premier League was full of action across the board.

With a number of high-scoring clashes it was the efforts of East Darwin’s men and women who impressed the most, with their dominant displays against Waratah.

East’s women showed no mercy against Waratah, racking up an incredible eight goals, with seven different scorers.

More impressively, they kept the Tahs scoreless in a terrific showing of defensive prowess.

East’s men also joined in on the night’s action, with a brilliant win of their own.

A grand final rematch against the Tahs, the Storm got their revenge to the tune of 5-1, getting their campaign under way with a bang.

Joe Lauritsen was the star of the show and is looking in great form to replicate his 2023 23-goal season, after he netted a hat-trick.

Banks’ men also started their season with a dominant display, taking down a rebuilding Commerce side 5-2.

Women’s grand finalists Commerce were too good for Banks in a 5-1 scoreline.

The Redbacks showed their experience across the park up against a young Banks unit, who were a bit off the pace, but did get their first goal of the season courtesy of Tayah Stripling, much to the delight of the crowd.

ROUND 1 RESULTS:

WOMEN

Commerce-Pints 5 def. 1 Banks

– Candice Liddy (2 goals), Allisa Robertson, Amy Peterson, Lisa Stevens (1 goal)

– Tayah Stripling (1 goal)

Nightcliff Tigers 3 def. 0 Palmerston Saints

– Alicia David, Holly Beath, Samantha PangQuee (1 goal)

East Darwin 8 def. 0 Waratah

– Corinna Murray (2 goals), Camille O’Conor, Isabelle O’Conor, Jessica Martin Brown, Kelby Pointon, Lauren Mutton, Madeline MacDonald (1 goal)

MEN

Banks 5 def. 2 Commerce-Pints

– Ayden Parkin (3 goals), Billy Fahy, Ryan McIntosh (1 goal)

Nightcliff Tigers 2 def. 1 Palmerston Saints

– Charlie Beath, Luke Broadway (1 goal)

– Mitchell Lockley (1 goal)

East Darwin 5 def. 1 Waratah

– Joe Lauritsen (3 goals), Jamie Hullick, Calvin Farmilo (1 goal)

– Aidan Abel (1 goal)