Blake Govers scored a memorable hat-trick for the NSW Pride Men as they toppled the defending
champions, HC Melbourne, 4-2 on Friday night in Newcastle to get their Hockey One season back
on track.
Played at a packed Newcastle International Hockey Centre, and during Pride Round no less, the
NSW Pride Men celebrated a stirring victory against the league leaders that sent a warning to the
rest of the competition, while the NSW Pride Women continued their perfect season with a 3-0 win
against HC Melbourne to already almost guarantee they will qualify for the Finals.
The NSW Pride Women welcomed debutant goalkeeper Tegan Neowhouse, 23, to replace the
injured Grace Jeffrey (broken hand), leaving a question mark over their defence going into the
match. But any concerns proved to be misplaced, as Neowhouse made a string of early saves and
finished the match with a clean sheet.
The deadlock was broken after 10 minutes when Jenna-Rae McIntyre forced home a scrappy goal
to settle any early nerves for the home side, and while Melbourne continued to create chances
Neowhouse continued to repel their efforts with some inspired goalkeeping.
A brilliantly-worked penalty corner late in the second quarter gave the Pride the breathing space
they were looking for, with triple-Olympian Grace Stewart making a spectacular diving deflection to
score her first goal for the season. In the final quarter Abby Wilson scored her sixth goal in three
games with a low drag flick into the bottom corner from another penalty corner, sealing another
comfortable victory that keeps NSW Pride on top of the Women’s ladder.
NSW Pride Women Head Coach Scott Barker praised his defence and the efforts of Neowhouse on
debut.
“It’s a relief,” he said. “It’s about defence, and to keep a clean sheet – it’s amazing. Tegan
Neowhouse on debut, and making critical saves in critical moments, it’s actually very pleasing to
keep them [Melbourne] to zero,” Barker said.
“We talk a lot about team-first mentality,” he said. “As we saw with Grace [Jeffrey] – she’s been
outstanding. Tegan [Neowhouse] has been outstanding. And ultimately, Joce Bartram is the
world’s best ‘keeper in my eyes, so we’ve got plenty of stock there,” Barker said.
Debutant goalkeeper Tegan Neowhouse echoed the sense of relief felt in getting through the game
without conceding a goal.
“I had a lot of adrenaline throughout the whole game,” she said. “Definitely big shoes to fill, but
everyone was so supportive and encouraging, and I’m just really happy to do it on home soil as well
and really enjoyed the whole thing,” Neowhouse said.
In the Men’s game the difference was the clinical finishing in front of goal, with HC Melbourne
perhaps having the edge in general play, scoring opportunities, and penalty corners, but not taking
their chances.
A trademark drag flick goal from Blake Govers in the tenth minute from the Pride’s first and,
surprisingly, only penalty corner of the night, calmed some of the nerves and gave the home side
the lead. A brilliant deflected goal from Jared Findley, assisted by recent Sultan of Johor Cup
winner Toby Mallon, late in the second quarter provided some breathing room going in to the main
break.
A Cooper Burns field goal and conversion early in the second half levelled the scores and heralded
a momentum shift that suggested the reigning Men’s champions would cause another late
collapse for the Pride, but some brilliant defending from Dylan Downey, Dylan Martin, and
goalkeeper Ash Thomas kept things even.
Martin turned provider in the closing minutes of the third quarter, setting up what would be the
winner with a pin-point 25-metre aerial pass to Govers in the circle which was hammered into the
bottom corner by the leading all-time goal scorer in Hockey One. Govers then converted the goal to
complete his hat-trick and seal the stirring 4-2 win.
On the back of the win Blake Govers said it was important to get the points but that the team still
has a lot of hard work ahead of it to build on the win.
“We dropped some easy points last week, so it was awesome to be able to get the points here
against the league favourites,” he said. “I think now we can’t take the other teams lightly and undo
the hard work that we’ve done.”
NSW Pride Men Head Coach Kieran Govers said the victory over the league leaders sets a
benchmark for his side and the competition.
“Obviously they [Melbourne] won last year and have had a couple of good wins already,“ he said.
“They came off a big score [13-1 last week] but that was really irrelevant.”
“We played the way we did in the first half, and we said at half time that we just need to redo that
for another 30 minutes, and we did that,“ he said. “I’m just stoked and proud, and I said in the
huddle after the game that this is a line in the sand and we can’t go below this standard. I’m bloody
super-excited to see what the standard we can produce moving forward,“ Kieran Govers said.
Results – Friday, 24 October 2025 at the Newcastle International Hockey Centre, Newcastle, NSW
Women
NSW Pride 3 – 0 HC Melbourne
Goal scorers
11’ Jenna-Rae McIntyre (NSW)
26’ Grace Stewart (NSW)
52’ Abby Wilson (NSW)
Men
NSW Pride 4 – 2 HC Melbourne
Goal scorers
10’ Blake Govers (NSW)
25’ Jared Findley (NSW)
35’ Cooper Burns (HCM)
35’ Cooper Burns (Conversion) (HCM)
44’ Blake Govers (NSW)
44’ Blake Govers (Conversion) (NSW)