Preliminary Finals Preview

Battle on for final spots in hockey grand finals
Teams will do battle in three Wimmera Hockey Association preliminary final matches at Yanac this Saturday to determine who will play in the grand final matches next week.

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At 11am:
Leopards versus Warriors

At 1pm:
Dimboola Women versus Warrack Women

At 3pm:
Hoops versus Hurricanes
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Every minute and opportunity of these matches will be crucial in what could be some very even hockey. The winners will meet teams who have already won their way through to the big final after last week’s semi finals.
At 11am Nhill Leopards will play Yanac Warriors in the junior preliminary final. The winner of this match will meet Dimboola Kangaroos in the grand final.
Warriors have some handy scorers in Bradley and Nathan Alexander and Sam Bone. These players together with Erin Blackwood and Alex Wheaton have been a strength behind the team and they will all have to work hard and use their younger players to combat the attack from Leopards.
Leopards have strength across the board while more senior players like Jack Janetzki, Talor Dent, Sarah Wallis and goalie Alex Welsh will work hard and look to main scorer Ben Smith to be on target.
Leopards have won two of their encounters during the season while the other result was a draw. However, Warriors are the only team to have beaten the top side Kangaroos this season and are never to be discounted.
At 1pm Dimboola Women and Warrack Women will play in the women’s preliminary final. The winner of this match will meet Horsham Highlanders in the grand final.
These two teams have won one game against the other this season while the last encounter between them in round 15 ended in a draw. Warrack has been strengthening during the season after a shaky start to the season when they lost their first match 9-0.
Dimboola will want to score a couple of early goals to put Warrack on the backfoot, but everyone knows that Warrack can score a goal or two under pressure. Sue Puls and Karen Triffitt between them have scored more than half of Warrack’s goals between them this season and could be a thorn in Dimboola’s side. Alana Argent and Linley Arnold-Wardle have been a strength behind the scorers along with several experienced finals players.
Elizabeth Klinge, Michelle Searle and Jess Ross will need to work hard for Dimboola and push into attack from early on. They will need their top scorer Adina King to be on target and make use of all opportunities. Defender Cara Elsom has also been a strength behind the women especially in recent rounds.
Dimboola has been leading Warrack on the ladder but no matter how they have been playing during the season Warrack always seem to get it together at finals time, so Dimboola best be on their guard, keep a level head and work together.
At 3pm Warrack Hoops will play Horsham Hurricanes in the men’s preliminary final. The winner will meet Yanac Tigers in the grand final.
Hoops have had the upper hand over Hurricanes during the season although Hurricanes did come away with one win when Hoops were not at their strongest. A draw in their last encounter however, which was only two weeks ago in the last home and away match, could be an indicator of a close match.
Hoops have several players very capable of scoring and Hurricanes defenders Will Hewitt and Richard Kemp will need to be ready. Goalie Steve Grose was last year’s men’s best and fairest and will need to be at his best for Hurricanes in this match. Hurricanes have also shared the goals around although Andrew Dorman has proved himself handy up forward.
Jarrod Knoop and Paul Slater have been a strength behind Hoops this season and can both score goals.
The whole team from Horsham will need to work together if they want a spot in the final. Reigning premiers Hoops will be on fire to try for a spot to defend their title.
- Rachel Clark