Tigers triumphant in grand final

Knights took the lead after 12 minutes when Hayley Betteridge slotted in the first goal.

Tigers evened the score late in the first half when Louise Shilling, with no room to work with on the back line, was able to thread the ball through the narrowest of gaps to score. The teams went to the half time break locked up at one apiece.

Again Knights appeared to go ahead in the second half. From a penalty corner the ball went to Betteridge who again put the ball into the back of the net.

Unfortunately for Knights the goal was disallowed, the ball not having travelled completely out of the circle before the shot was taken.

The game was on a knife’s edge as both teams tried to get the winning goal.

A combination of passes down the left side by Knights’ Lindie Hudson, Louisa Bonner and Elaine Crapp was good to watch as was Tigers’ Chloe Hoffman’s individual skill of evading multiple opposition players.

With 10 minutes remaining, Tigers edged to the front when James Jeffery got a powerful shot away and into the goal.

After several close calls Knights were awarded a penalty corner right on the full-time whistle.

This meant the team could snatch a draw and send the game into extra time if they could convert the corner into a goal.

The penalty corner had to be played out before full-time could be called, and there was real pressure as Knights were awarded three more penalty corners in this passage of play.

The final whistle blew when a Knights infringement in the circle ended the game.

Tigers had prevailed 2-1.

The player of the match award was hotly contested. Players who rated highly were Jenni Boyce and Tania Maddison for Tigers, while Lindy Hudson and Louisa Bonner’s masterful skills brought them into calculations.

The umpire’s final decision could not split Tigers’ Sarah Seers, whose possessional play and work off the ball were exceptional, and Knights’ Roz Smith, whose consistent encouragement and directions to her players up front and her tackling and cover defence were spot on.

Knights also missed the services on the weekend of Alicia Hampson and her work in the mid-field.

The Tigers players stayed around to celebrate the win with their fellow hockey players until the early hours of Sunday, even walking home in the windstorm.