East Darwin Storm, Commerce Pints on the money in Darwin Hockey League grand finals

At long last, East Darwin’s player-coach can celebrate a win over arch rivals Nightcliff in a grand final. And Commerce Pints will welcome being the hunted again next year after winning their second-straight Darwin Hockey title.

East Darwin Storm, winners of the 2021 Darwin Hockey League Grand Final. Picture: Paul Markou

AT long last, star East Darwin defender and player-coach Nick Hill can celebrate a win over arch rivals Nightcliff in a Darwin Hockey League grand final.

But it wasn’t easy. His team triumphed 3-2 over the Tigers in the competition decider on Saturday night.

It was fourth time lucky for Hill in his quest to beat Nightcliff in a final.

But he stood up once again in a big game – it was his second grand-final triumph in three years.

“I’m super proud of this team,” Hill said.

“We lost some key players before this season.

“They were mainly midfielders, so our younger players had to step up.

“Jason Hullick, Patch Clapp and Barry Smith were among our key players who departed.

“Calvin Farmilo stood out – he was the best on ground.

“Nathan Hochman was good again.

Calvin Farmilo was outstanding in Storm’s win over Nightcliff in the 2021 Darwin Hockey League Grand Final. Picture: Paul Markou

“And I want to give a special mention to Aaron Chin.

“He was playing B-grade last year and we didn’t have as many players this year as last season.

“He had to step up for us and he did.”

Storm were deserving premiers, after claiming the minor flag undefeated with 15 wins and one draw from their 16 games in the regular season.

But the Tigers put up a commendable fight on the night.

“We just got over the line,” Hill said.

“We scored an own goal early, so we were up against it from the get-go.

“They made it 2-all with seven minutes to go. And soon after that we made it 3-2.

“They missed a couple of opportunities in the last couple of minutes.

“But so did we.”

Charlie Fewster (two) and Alan Hubbard were the Storm goalscorers.

Hill also had another impressive game at fullback, stepping up in yet another big game.

“I’ve played midfield before, but me being at fullback seems to work better for the team,” he said.

“I like trying to shut out the opposition’s danger forwards and organising my team from the back.”

Next year is set to be Hill’s last with the Storm before he moves to Hobart with his air force role.

“It was nice to finally beat the Tigers in a grand final,” he said.

“And that’s two grand final wins for me from the past three years.

“We beat (Palmerston) Saints in 2019, so that’s two titles in three years with me coaching.

“It shows our juniors that it (being a player-coach) can be done.”

****************

THEY will be the hunted next year, but that will actually motivate Commerce Pints’ senior women’s team to lift its game to a higher level.

That was the observation from coach Mark Davis after his outfit won a grand-final thriller, beating Waratah 3-2 in the 2021 Darwin Hockey League competition decider on Saturday night.

Commerce Pints star Rebecca Metcalf was judged best-on-ground in the 2021 Darwin Hockey League Women’s Final. Picture Paul Markou

“We’ve won two titles in a row now, but we’re going to use that as motivation,” Davis said.

“At the start of this season I put the challenge to these girls and said ‘we’re the hunted – let’s see if we can handle it’, and they did.

“I’m really proud of them.”

Winners of the 2021 Darwin Hockey League women’s title, Commerce-Pints. Picture: Paul Markou

Commerce Pints scored first before Waratah equalised before halftime.

“Then we got the next two goals and I thought we were looking OK,” Davis said.

“It was a bit like the semi-final when we played them (with Commerce Pints winning 5-1). In both games we got the jump on them early, but they kept fighting.

“We knew they’d start hard and my girls threw everything into fighting back.

“My team was amazing.”

Storm captain Jessica Martin-Brown with Kookaburras hockey legend and Territorian Nova Peris. Martin-Brown was crowned the 2021 Darwin Hockey League women’s best-and-fairest player. Picture: Paul Markou

Rebecca Metcalfe (one goal) got best on ground, while fellow goalscorer Suze Rijks also stood out.

“Rebecca is a fantastic midfielder with a really high fitness level, and she just ran and ran all night,” Davis said.

“She’s been really great for us all year and she’s got a really high workrate. Also special mention to Macenzee Dixon. She’s just 15 and did a great job tagging one of Waratah’s best players.”