Commerce Pints and East Darwin crowned TPL champions 2024
The Darwin Hockey League grand finals didn’t disappoint with two four-goal heroes, a major upset, a fairytale finish and two defending champions. Catch-up on all things TPL and B-grade hockey and see our 120+ photo gallery of all the action here.
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That’s a wrap.
After a 15 game regular season and a thrilling post season, the 2024 Darwin Hockey League has wrapped up for another season.
From last minute winners to four-goal heroes, catch up on all things hockey finals below.
TPL – MEN (East Darwin 4 def. 2 Nightcliff Tigers)
East Darwin has capped off a near immaculate season in style.
The form team of the competition all season put it together once again when it mattered most, dispatching a plucky Nightcliff Tigers in the grand final.
Their fifth win in a row over the yellow and black, the Storm never looked in doubt, leading for the entirety of the contest.
After an exceptionally high paced opening five minutes the two teams mellowed out and found their rhythm early in the first.
However it was Easts who had the early chances, negated by some epic keeping from Tigers’ Lachy Walter.
Isaac Farmilo took matters into his own hands and netted the first goal of the night for the Storm with four minutes left in the first.
Nightcliff became its own worst enemy in the second quarter, turning over the ball unforced and making bad reads, allowing the East players to penetrate the open pockets upfront.
Pinned in their own half for the majority of the term, the Tigers conceded their second of the night after Farmilo found the back of the net yet again.
East kept to the status quo after the half time break, happy to play possession ball and wait for Nightcliff to bite in, opening up space.
Nightcliff legend David Skippings had a moment to forget as he passed the ball straight to Farmilo just above the circle, ending in the Storm goal scoring machine netting his third of the game.
East Darwin then earned a corner soon after in which Farmilo hit home his fourth goal, taking the lead out to 4-0 with a lot of time left on the clock.
Frustrated on the field and bench, the Tigers men went into all out attack mode for the rest of the quarter, only to score but have it taken back due to height.
Looking to save face the Nightcliff men had the lion’s share of the ball, however East’s formidable defensive wall proved difficult to crack.
The Storm had attacking phases of their own, narrowly missing goal on numerous chances much to the bewilderment of the crowd.
The Tigers did end up scoring two late consolation goals but the game was already out of reach by then, leading the Storm to take out the trophy with a very well deserved 4-2 victory.
“That was a tough final but we stuck to what had worked for us this year and came out with the win,” MVP of the game East Darwin’s Isaac Farmilo said.
“Tigers strength is digging in and making the game very gritty and physical.
“To counteract that we had to stay in control of the ball and dictate the play so that they couldn’t jump on us with their counter attacks.
“Our focuses especially for the last quarter were attitude and energy levels and we kept on top of both of those.
“So I feel like this is the perfect ending to what was really a great season.”
TPL – WOMEN (Commerce Pints 2 def. 1 East Darwin )
Commerce Pints women have reclaimed their title as champions of the DHL in the most frantic of fashion.
Up against the juggernaut that is East Darwin, the women from Pints did it the hard way, trailing until the final 30 seconds of the match.
The self professed “underdogs” headed into the clash, Pints knew it was going to be an uphill battle if they were to topple the Storm.
A very sluggish and cautionary opening term saw the score locked 0-0 as neither side looked keen to throw the opening punch just yet.
The second quarter immediately was rife with intensity, Pints’ Macenzee Dixon copping a stick to the hand that split open the top of her pointer finger in the 14th minute.
Storm used this period to their advantage, scoring off a corner moments later through Annabelle Bridgland to take a 1-0 lead.
East got into a rhythm, happy to play out from the back and maintain possession for long periods, frustrating Commerce’s players.
The reigning champions took the goal lead into the half time break, confident as they ran off the turf.
Not ones to go down without a fight, the Redbacks blitzkrieged the Storm’s defensive third, bombarding their back line with attacking phases and corners to boot.
The red and black were eventually rewarded for their continual assault after Dixon took a free quickly catching Storm’s defence off guard, she then wove through the Storm’s defensive efforts, and Candice Liddy got a stick to the second ball to level the score 1-1.
Still deadlocked into the fourth, both teams started to show signs of fatigue, making mass changes and missing their assignments on numerous occasions.
Things quickly turned sour with under five to go as two Pints and two East’s players were sent to the bin with a yellow after a string of altercations out in the middle.
With tensions high, East’s earned a corner with 3.15 mins to go.
They scored from a set play but the goal was rescinded much to the ire of the crowd and Storm bench.
Pints’ Dixon took the ball from her own half deep into East’s only to be felled in a crunching tackle that resulted in the Redbacks being awarded a corner.
With 50 seconds on the clock, Commerce took their spot atop the circle, put together two short passes and hit an outstretched Michelle Caden on the right post who found the back of the net with under 30 seconds remaining.
In the end, Pints fended off a last ditch attack from Storm to take back their premiership title in a huge upset.
“We were under the pump in the final five minutes and it definitely got very rough and hectic out in the middle,” grand final MVP and Pints player Macenzee Dixon said.
“We knew that we just had to compose ourselves and focus, which we did pretty well.
“I was lucky to get a bit of a breakaway that turned into a corner which I wasn’t mad about.
“We got a lucky bounce and the ball found its way to the back of the net with not long to go.
“We thought we’d be headed to a shootout so it was crazy to take the lead with under 30 seconds left.
“I’d say this is an even sweeter win as they’ve had our number all season.”
B-GRADE – WOMEN (Waratah 3 def. 0 Nightcliff Tigers)
Earlier on in the day, the B-grade men and women took to the turf for their own grand finals.
In the women’s it was a battle between the reigning champions Waratah and challengers the Nightcliff Tigers.
Under the beaming early afternoon sun the two teams slugged it out and were even pickings until a minute before the break when the Tah’s hit the back of the net to go up 1-0.
Waratah Chole Gent then doubled the lead with a silky individual goal in the second period.
Nightcliff came out hot in the third, eager to get on the scorecard.
The Tigers found sustained patches of momentum and possession but couldn’t string together the final pass.
After a goalless 15, Tayla Ainslie scored her second of the day after she ran around the Tigers’ defence and nutmegged the keeper to put the game at 3-0.
Despite an all out attacking bombardment, Nightcliff were kept out of the goal column through some solid scramble defence by the Tah’s.
Waratah ended the game with a comfortable 3-0 victory and defended their premiership trophy in the process.
B-GRADE MEN – Nightcliff Tigers 5 def. 1 East Darwin
After the women’s B-grade final it was a battle between the reigning champions Tigers and the Storm.
Also under the beaming sun the two outfits showed great zeal from the off.
Two incredible saves by the Storm’s goalie wasn’t enough to stem the Tigers’ efforts as the man of the day Travis Carroll turned back the clock, gunned it down the wing and rocketed the Kookaburra top bins just before the quarter time hooter.
Oddly, the second term went scoreless despite a number of decent chances from both sides.
Carroll netted his second of the game and earned his third moments later after the Storm’s keeper took out Tigers’ Leo Skippings, gifting Carroll an open shot.
East got one back off a corner before the buzzer but wouldn’t be able to find the net for the rest of the match.
Carroll netted his fourth of the day through a penalty after he was taken down by Storm’s goalie.
At the full time siren, the Tigers kept their mantle as premiers with a comfortable but hard fought 5-1 win.
Everything you need to know about the 2024 TPL Grand Finals
Grand final fever is here.
After a gruelling 15 match regular season and knockouts, the two top male and female sides will square-off this Saturday at Marrara Stadium.
A battle of the minor premiers in East Darwin and runner’s up in Nightcliff Tigers and Commerce Pints, all four outfits will fight till the final whistle with a chance at history on the cards.
See how the clubs are shaping up for the big dance below.
TPL WOMEN – East Darwin vs. Commerce Pints (5.30pm)
A 2023 grand final rematch will see the unstoppable East Darwin face-off against a plucky Commerce in the decider.
Both outfits full of experience, littered with talent and hungry for the top gong, it’ll be a battle of will and grit.
With a week of rest under their belts the reigning champs and minor premiers East’s are looking to replicate last year’s heroics once more.
“We have had a great season but we cannot go into the match over confident,” East’s captain Jess Martin-Brown said.
“Our game has proved effective so if we stick to the team play and go into contests hard we will find avenues to score, meaning we won’t have to rely on individual brilliance.”
A team with a proper winners mentality, the Storm made sure to keep their blood pumping despite the bye, even scouting Commerce as they played Palmerston in the prelim.
“We didn’t play but we did not take the week off,” the captain said.
“We made sure we were still getting the legs moving by going on runs and training because we take this seriously.
“We also came out and watched Pints in the prelim to see what they were doing well.”
Martin-Brown is acutely aware that Pints, regardless of form, have players across the pitch capable of piling on the hurt.
However, she is backing her goal scoring weapon for a big night.
“Macenzee (Dixon) is certainly their most dangerous player,” she said.
“Her speed and skill on the ball makes it hard to stop her but we need to shut her down the best we can all game.
“Camille (O’Conor) has been amazing for us upfront so we will obviously try and find her, but as much as possible, we need to work as a unit.”
On the other side of the coin, Commerce are desperate to relinquish East’s stronghold over the competition.
After suffering defeat last year, Pints’ Joline Bouwer said her team is feeling the pressure but is confident nonetheless.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us coming into the match,” she said.
“We’ve had to come the long way again and are like last year the underdogs, which still is a bit of a shock for us, but we are all excited to have another shot at the premiership.
“We’ve had a solid season but have struggled at times.”
With two young-guns and an on-song keeper up their sleeves, Bouwer believes that her side can negate East’s ability to score in quick succession
“Our two junior stars Macenzee and Niesha (Casimiro) upfront and in the middle and our keeper Ash D’Souza have been a weapon for us, saving us more times than I can count,” she said.
“Our defence will be something we need to be very focused on as we know how quickly East’s can pile on the goals.”
TPL MEN – East Darwin vs. Nightcliff Tigers (7.30pm)
A fierce rivalry will be reignited as East’s and Nightcliff take to the turf for a chance at reclaiming the Premiership trophy.
Already having met in the semi, East’s are looking to repeat their performance once more with another emphatic victory.
“We need to stay level headed and stick to what has worked through the regular season,” East Darwin’s Calvin Farmilo said.
“Patience and team build-up/general play are our main focuses.”
With grand final experience against Nightcliff already, Farmilo hasn’t forgotten his opponents are more than capable of pulling out their game of the season when it counts most.
“Tigers are a consistently a good team and have the ability to upset sides in the finals,” he said.
“They have a lot of final experience, and this will be the fourth time I’ll have played them in the grand final.”
Farmilo said his men will need to be on their toes from the off, namely in stifling Tigers’ most important men.
The East’s man is also banking on his older brother to continue his goal scoring dominance despite Tigers’ brilliant shot stopper.
“Luke (Broadway) is always one you need to be careful of, Skip (David Skippings) at the back who has so much experience and is great defensively and their goalie Lachlan has been unreal, top quality all year,” he said.
“As for us, as it’s a big game, you can’t go past my older brother Calvin.
“He scored 50 goals in the regular season so we are looking to him to carry that form.”
With a chance to redeem their semi-final defeat, Nightcliff are planning an all out assault to maintain a chance at getting their hands on the silverware.
And with their only losses of the year coming at the hands of East, they know it’ll be an uphill battle.
“There’s no doubt that we need to have a great game and put together a real team effort in order to knock them (East) off,” Nightcliff’s captain Luke Broadway said.
“They like to come out quick and put on the pressure early so that’s an area we need to be cautious of.
“We’ve come the long way but we’ve done that before.
With their last meeting a 6-3 defeat, Broadway has put a big emphasis on his men maintaining their composure and not seeking out individual glory.
“If we can play as a solid team and have no individuals, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
“East’s are very good at scoring goals which everybody knows.
“We’ve got to find a way to stop them from doing that.”
The captain is also looking for two of his main men to put their best foot forward despite the pressure.
“Cameron Cooke is a player that will stand up (for us) and our goalie Lachy has been in good form all year so we’ll need him to be up and about again.”
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