Hockey One: Tigers squads begin season strongly

The Tassie Tigers men’s and women’s sides got their Hockey One campaigns off to a promising start in Saturday’s home clashes against NSW.

Tassie Tigers players Tim Deavin (left) Lachie Rogers (right) battle for possession. Picture: Liam Boric/Liberty Hockey One League

The Tassie Tigers men and women collected points from their opening Hockey One League matches at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre, both roaring back from a deficit scoreline.

A hat-trick inside 75 seconds from Kookaburras forward Jack Welch guided the Tigers men back from 2-1 down to a 4-3 win over the NSW Pride in a Player of the Match performance.

Welch slotted a penalty corner flick barely thirty seconds into the final quarter, before striking into the top left-hand corner of the net and duly scoring his field goal conversion.

NSW Pride found a response through Nicholas McEwen to set up a grandstand finish, but the defensive work of Tim Deavin, Jeremy Edwards and Josh Beltz secured victory for the Tigers.

Earlier, NSW Pride had struck against the run of play to score through Ryan Woolnough and Michael Taylor, either side of Ehren Hazell’s deflected finish from Lachie Rogers’ assist.

The Tigers men next travel to Perth to face the Thundersticks, with Burras trio Magnus McCausland, Rogers and Oli Stebbings unavailable due to competing in the Sultan of Johor Cup with the Australian Under 21 side.

But coach Ben Read did have some welcome selection news that will boost the Tigers hopes of qualifying for the finals series.

“I can confirm that Eddie Ockenden is locked in to play, which is fantastic news for all hockey fans, and we’ll also have New Zealand international goalkeeper Leon Hayward,” Read said.

“The trip to Perth is always a tough one but I’m really happy with the depth of talent in our squad.”

Tigers player Philly Bridley cops some spray as she competes for possession with a NSW rival. Picture: Liam Boric/Liberty Hockey One League

“The first half against the Pride, I thought we were too conservative with our ball use, option to play on the outside of their zone too often which worked in their favour.”

“We took the game on more in the fourth quarter and that paid obvious dividends, so we’ll have a big focus this week on ensuring we include our midfielders more when we are outletting.”

After failing to secure a point last year, the Tigers women collected two points by taking the 2022 League winners to a penalty shootout, after the scores were locked 3-3 after regular time.

A penalty corner goal from Tigers import Gitte Michels was followed up by a converted field goal from Sarah McCambridge cancelled out the Pride’s early goals from Amalia Patterson (2) and Emma Scriven.

NSW Pride goalkeeper Zoe Newman stood tallest in the penalty shootout to ensure her side took the bonus point by denying Tigers trio Sarah Robertson, Philly Bridley and Maddi Brooks.

The Tigers face Perth in a doubleheader on Sunday from 5:30pm AEDT, with the action broadcast live on 7Plus.