WA men come from a goal down twice to win thrilling semifinal, WA women claim fifth place after draw

The WA men’s team produced a stirring semifinal victory while the WA women officially finished fifth on day six of the Hockey Australia Country Challenge in Albany. In the best game of the semifinals action on Friday, the WA men’s outfit fought back from 2-1 down to progress to Saturday’s gold medal match after a superb hat-trick from Bunbury’s Brayden Dalton. Evan Douglas opened the scoring in the first minute of the semifinal but WA were able to settle and they levelled scores after a penalty corner shot that hit a defender on the last line, earned a penalty stroke. WA captain Darren Parkes slotted home the flick but the joy was short-lived as Jayden Schram converted a penalty corner in the dying stages of the first term. Dalton got WA back level again with a powerful penalty corner conversion in the second quarter, but his side had lost Jarrod Booth and Chris Souchon to leg injuries before half-time. WA earned two penalty corners in the third quarter and executed both perfectly as Dalton smacked home two goals as the hosts surged two goals ahead. However, Victoria were not done with as Jarrod Lougoon converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute to reduce the margin to one goal going into the final period. WA held firm though in the final quarter, defending well and controlling possession on their way to a 4-3 victory. Queensland also reached the gold medal game after they finished 3-0 winners over New South Wales in the other men’s semifinal. Joshua McPaul scored twice for the winning side and Jarrod Carseldine also found the back of the net, downing a NSW outfit that has been hit by COVID. The NSW side lost a couple of key players to COVID during the tournament, with Lower Great Southern trio Alex Fergie, Andre Gabriel and Mitch Bradbury called up to fill in. NSW and Queensland faced off for the women’s gold medal after both produced polished performances in Friday’s semifinals. The unbeaten NSW side only conceded a late goal in their 3-1 win over the Australian Defence Force. Earlier Queensland were far too strong for Victoria, led by a double from Tinesha Carey, as they won 3-0. The WA women’s side drew 1-1 with South Australia in the fifth and sixth classification game but were credited with fifth overall courtesy of their higher finish in the pool standings. Camryn McKoy netted a 24th minute field goal but Katherine Wofindale fired home a third quarter equaliser for SA, who also had Lower Great Southern pair Emma Wilkinson and Jemma Sayers in their line-up. In the men’s fifth and sixth classification the ADF beat SA 3-0 to secure fifth place.