The Margaret River Men’s Hockey Club performed well in the 2017 WA Men’s Country Hockey Championships held in Perth over the long weekend.
Playing as defending champions in the third division, the expectations were high.
The opening game against the Greater Wheatbelt Association saw Margaret River dominate to run out 5-1 winners.
After a slow start against Bunbury in the second match, Margaret River found form in the second half ending with a decisive 8-1 victory.
Sunday’s two games began with a 6-1 win against Lower Great Southern.
The second match for the day against Upper Great Southern was expected to be a tighter contest as neither team had dropped any matches.
Margaret River playing with tenacity and endeavour, maintaining pressure for the duration of the game to record a strong 4-0 win and finish the qualifying matches undefeated and fixtured to play Collie, also undefeated, in the Grand Final.
The final was played in good spirit with both teams keen to dominate.
Collie opened the scoring from a penalty corner and went into the half-time break holding a one-nil lead, however this was pegged back in the second half when Margaret River also scored from a penalty corner to draw level.
The deadlock was broken with just a couple of minutes left when Collie converted a field goal to run out narrow 2-1 winners.
Despite the loss, Margaret River was proud of their achievements over the weekend with the team displaying talent and skill in all matches.
Team members, Jake Down was awarded ‘Fairest and Best’ player in division three, while Matt Rowe was the ‘Top Goal Scorer’ with nine goals for the weekend.
