Thundersticks Aiming for Grand Final Berth at AHL
The WA Thundersticks remain in contention for a grand final berth at the 2015 Australian Hockey League in Darwin.
Having topped Pool B with three wins from as many matches, the Thundersticks’ campaign hit a hurdle in their first cross-over after suffering a 2-0 defeat against Queensland, which now sees WA ranked third on goal difference behind Queensland and Victoria.
WA plays fourth ranked Tasmania today, with a win keeping their hopes alive of playing in tomorrow’s grand final.
A Western Australian win coupled with a victory for Queensland over Victoria, would see the two sides play in Friday’s final, whilst if WA defeats Tasmania but Victoria defeats Queensland, the Thundersticks would need to overhaul a three goal deficit against Queensland on goal difference, or win by a greater margin than Victoria.
In the earlier pool round, WA recorded a 6-4 win over Victoria, before accounting for the ACT (3-0) and NT (4-2) respectively.
A win over Tasmania in today’s final cross-over match cannot be assumed however, as it was the Tasmanians who scored a late win over the Thundersticks in the final of the 2014 edition of the Australian Hockey League.
The WA Diamonds missed out on the top four cross-over in the women’s AHL in Sydney, after they managed one win from their three pool stage matches earlier in the competition.
The Diamonds opened with a 2-0 win over Tasmania, but suffered 2-1 and 5-2 defeats against the ACT and NSW respectively, to instead move through to the bottom half of the cross over for 5th to 8thplace.
The Diamonds did however, earn a 3-2 win over South Australia and should earn a play-off for the 5th/6thmatch in tomorrow’s ranking round.
