LGSHA 2023: Dominant teams Spencer Park and North Albany ready to defend A-grade titles as finals start

A red-hot Spencer Park side will be out to progress directly through to the Lower Great Southern Hockey Association men’s A-grade grand final on Saturday. The LGSHA finals begin on Saturday with Park up against North Albany in the men’s semifinal between the top two ranked teams. Park are chasing back-to-back A-grade titles and a third grand final win in four years after prevailing in 2020 and 2022. A talented Park outfit had to overcome the omission of three key players to secure a 2-1 victory over Manypeaks in last year’s decider. This year Park will go into the finals as hot title favourites, having not lost in 14 games this season. Park drew with their semifinal opponent back in round 11 but have won their last three games and were undefeated across the normal season. Led by State country captain Darren Parkes the Park outfit will clash with Redbacks for a grand final spot at 3pm on Saturday. Park were 4-2 winners in their most recent encounter in round 12 and also beat Redbacks 5-1 and 3-2 earlier in the season. Redbacks enter the finals having won just one of their past four games that being a 4-1 victory over Peaks in the final round last Saturday. The winner progressed to the grand final on September 16 while the loser will get a second chance and meet Peaks in the preliminary final on September 9. In the women’s A-grade competition North Albany and Spencer Park will renew their rivalry in the semifinals on Saturday. Redbacks have won the past three titles and won 14 of a possible 15 games in the normal season this year. Their only blemish was a forfeit loss to Park in round seven but they come into the finals in dominant form with commanding 7-0 and 4-0 wins in the past fortnight. Park are chasing their first premiership since 2018 but have produced some strong hockey this year, including winning their past two matches. The women’s A-grade semifinal will start at 5pm on Saturday, the winner moving straight into the decider and the loser will back up next week in the preliminary final against LGSHA.