Final places gained in hard-fought deciders

WITH a place in the final at stake, the second round of the GHA knockouts was always going to be a hard-fought affair. All the women and men's sides were in action with only Beavers guaranteed a place in the men's final following their 100% record in the earlier round.

In the women's competition, the first game saw Vixens secure a 2-0 win over Puffins thanks to a great reverse-stick effort from Fi Strobridge. Hilary Stokes touched in a Jayne Carter shot from a penalty corner to make it two.

Approved Personnel Panthers started the day with no points from the previous round and failed to add to their total following a 3-2 defeat to Amazons.

Kirsty Davison opened the scoring for Amazons before Liz Stonebridge quickly squared the match for Panthers.

But a brace of close-range goals for Leigh Le Page and some great saves from young Hannah Coutu saw Amazons hang on, despite Greta Raath netting for Panthers.

La Collinette Cubs and Vixens looked favourites for the final and it proved to be a tight game.

The incisive running of Debbie Allen and a cool finish from Pip Bowyer proved to be the only difference between the two sides. The 1-0 victory for Cubs assured them of a place in the showpiece occasion.

Only a victory by three clear goals against Puffins would see Amazons through to the final. They were rewarded when Le Page scored early in the second half. Amazons continued to push, but Emma Atkinson in the Puffins goal frustrated them and match finished 1-0 - not enough for the Amazons.

With Cubs already assured of a place in the final and AP Panthers playing only for pride, the final game of the day fizzled out into a scrappy goalless draw.

With Beavers already assured of a place in the men's event, it was just a question of who would meet them.

Yobbos took on Unwantables in the first clash of the day and the latter profited from early pressure with a fine reverse-stick effort by Jordan Smith.

Yobbos picked up the pace and Nick Mahy levelled the scores for Yobbos. Neither side could break the deadlock and it finished 1-1.

Columbians' poor start to the tournament seemed to get worse when they played Elizabeth College 1st XI.

A superb individual goal from Joffy Wilkes-Green saw them go one down. However, that seemed to be the wake-up call they needed and Colombians struck back with two goals from Chris Colmer. Phil Radford added a third to seal a 3-1 victory.

Beavers were in no mood for charity when the beat Yobbos 2-1 in the next game. Pierre Moody struck first before Nick Mahy levelled for Yobbos. Adrian Gidney in the Yobbos goal was unlucky to see the ball rebound into the path of Beavers' Charlie Allen, who slotted the ball home for a 2-1 win.

Unwantables knew that beating the College would see them into the final but the youngsters held out, showed resilience and even scoring the opener through John Guille. Matt Bain equalised for Unwantables, but further goals from Ollie Richards and Chris Dravers secured a well fought 3-1 win for Elizabeth.

It was down to the last game, with Columbians knowing that a win over Beavers would see them through to the final. Columbians started strongly and were soon on top, with Matt de la Mare latching onto a mishit shot and sliding the ball home.

Johnny Warr added a second for Colombians before Tristan Cairns netted with a superb individual effort and set up a repeat game in the final next week.