SALE claimed two East Gippsland hockey premierships, and Maffra one, after winning grand finals at Lions Park on Saturday.
In cool and blustery conditions, Sale and Swan Reach met in three of the five grand finals.
SALE claimed back-to-back open premierships after defeating Swan Reach 2-1.
The match lived up the expectation of a tight battle.
Both teams mounted many attacking opportunities, with their defences holding strong.
In a match largely contested through the midfield, goal-scoring chances were hard to come by.
Swan Reach broke the deadlock through a penalty corner late in the first half.
Sale pressed hard for the equaliser from the beginning of the second half and was rewarded with a goal in the first two minutes.
The match remained tight with both teams playing high quality fast-paced hockey.
Sale edged ahead with a goal late in the match. Swan Reach worked hard to close the gap, but Sale held strong to take out successive open premiership for the first time in club history.
Sale’s Jack Fitzgerald was named player of the final.
IN the women’s, Swan Reach defeated Sale 3-2 with Bec Corben best-on-ground for the winner.
It was the third year running the clubs had met in the women’s grand final, with Swan Reach playing to stop Sale claiming a hat-trick of premierships.
Swan Reach scored the first two goals before Sale pegged back the deficit with a goal before the break.
Swan Reach increased the buffer with an early second half goal, before Sale mounted a late comeback, closing the margin to just a goal.
With the minutes ticking down, the Swan Reach players held their nerve and take the trophy.
RILEY Simpson led Swan Reach to a 7-3 victory over Sale in the under 18s.
Scoring goals at regular intervals, Swan Reach went into half-time with a comfortable 5-0 lead.
Sale found its feet, scoring three second half goals, but Swan Reach remained in a strong position to complete an undefeated season.
SALE defeated Maffra 4-1 in the under 15s.
The two teams had been even throughout the year, however, Sale came out strongly in the grand final, building up a two-goal lead in the first half through goals from Ben Burrowes and Rebecca Strauss.
Maffra looked to have clawed a goal back, but Ben Harms informed the umpire the ball had hit his feet.
Sale went further ahead in the second half, when Tom Wrigglesworth scored, before Tim Valette gave Maffra some hope of coming back.
Wrigglesworth added his second goal right on the final whistle to complete a 4-1 victory for Sale. Sale’s Cameron Wrigglesworth was awarded best-on-ground.
MAFFRA needed penalty strokes to overcome Nagle in the under 13s grand final and claim back-to-back premierships.
After a tight beginning, Nikolas Valette broke the deadlock late in the first half with a goal for Maffra.
Nagle fought strongly in the second half and equalised through Nicholas Mooney.
The match reached fever pitch when Nagle was awarded a penalty corner as full time sounded. Nagle appeared to have scored the winner, but after a discussion between the two umpires, the goal was disallowed as not having travelled out of the circle.
The match went to extra time, but no goal was scored, meaning penalty strokes with decide the premiership.
Maffra shot-takers maintained their cool throughout, with Ben O’Toole, Tristan Neaves and Lachlan White all converting. Maffra goalkeeper Matthew Phelan performed strongly in his first season and kept Nagle down to one goal.
Maffra’s Lachlan White was awarded the best-on-ground medal.
A HIGHLIGHT of the day was an all abilities match played between the under 18s and women’s grand finals.
An excited group of players took the field, and was well-supported by the large crowd. The players demonstrated the skills they have been taught by coaches from Wellington Hockey Club throughout the year.
