Heavyweights do battle in women’s A-grade hockey preliminary final

This year’s women’s A-grade preliminary final in the Lower Great Southern Hockey Association will be a battle of the heavyweights of the competition over the last decade. North Albany and Manypeaks will put their season on the line on Saturday for a chance to meet Mt Barker in next week’s grand final. Peaks and Redbacks have played each other in five of the past seven women’s A-grade deciders. For Redbacks, they will be desperate to progress and get the chance to improve a horrible grand final record in recent times. The past seven A-grade grand finals have featured Redbacks with their sole win coming in a drought-breaking moment back in 2017. In a shortened regular season because of COVID-19, Redbacks missed out on directly qualifying for an eighth straight grand final by goal difference after finishing locked on points with Mt Barker. Peaks enter this year’s finals series as defending premiers and the team that has won five of the past seven titles. This Saturday’s preliminary final promises to be a cracker given one of the competition’s two heavyweights will be knocked out and not there on the last day of the season. Peaks will enter the sudden death final with mixed form and a vastly different team to last year’s premiership outfit. They have won just one of their past four matches but most importantly it came last Saturday and against the same opponent they face in the preliminary final. Former Hockeyroos striker Kathryn Slattery looms as the key for Peaks’ title bid, if she is available to play on Saturday. In three encounters this season, Redbacks have been successful in one while Peaks have claimed the other two. In the men’s A-grade preliminary final, Spencer Park will start warm favourites against Manypeaks. Park have won two of the three clashes so far in 2020 and while the most recent meeting was a 1-1 draw they will take confidence from an impressive final two games of the regular season. A 3-0 win over North Albany and then a 5-2 victory over Mt Barker has Park in top form ahead of the finals. Peaks finished the normal season with only three wins but scored heavily in two recent victories and still have plenty of finals experience among their group. The women’s A-grade preliminary final starts at 3.15pm and the men’s begins at 4.45pm.