Round 4 was a valiant performance from Hockey Club Melbourne as they took on Canberra Chill under the Friday night lights. HC Melbourne’s women’s team took a 2-0 win in the opening game to continue their undefeated streak, while the men made the record books defeating Canberra Chill 10-5.
In what was a fiery contest at the State Netball and Hockey Centre, fans certainly got their money’s worth with a whopping 17 goals scored. The women’s game was first up with both teams finding their passages of play in the opening term. With both Anna Moore and Nikki Bosman on debut’s, they quickly found their rhythm and the team play started to link up through the field.
It wasn’t until everybody thought the first half was over, Colasurdo sent a strong ball into the attacking circle and Madi Ratcliffe striked yet again in the dying seconds. Ratcliffe wasn’t able to score of the conversion This led HC Melbourne into a strong position going into the major break.
Early in the third term HC Melbourne earned a short corner from a sloppy Anna Flanagan tackle outside the circle. Van Grimbergen sent a strong slap in and Gravenall finished off a well-drilled corner to give HC Melbourne a 2-0 lead over Canberra Chill.
The last term saw both teams present opportunities but none found the back of the net. HC Melbourne’s Women continue their undefeated run in the inaugural season. Nikki Bosman, Carly James and Amy Lawton proved their spot after strong performances while Canberra Chill goal keeper Sakiyo Asano had a great night with some dashing saves.
The men followed shortly after with Canberra Chill looking defiant in the early stages. Daniel Conroy caught HC Melbourne’s defenders off guard to earn a penalty corner in the first minute of play. A conventional corner came through and Johan Durst kept out the first ball, but the injector, Backhus made no mistake and sent it into the top of the net to set the lead 0-1 to Canberra.
HC Melbourne settled quickly and started to set the tone, not long after Kiran Arunasalam ignited the team through some individual brilliance dribbling along the baseline through four players to find the back of the net to draw the score 1-1. Kiran couldn’t convert with a fantastic save from Andrew Charter but Kiran’s play opened the flood gates.
Kleinschmidt setup a great one-two passing play to finish the goal with an extended sliding tap 14th minute to lead 2-1. A minute later, first-gamer Craig Marais finished off an excellent penalty corner with a goal off the Charter’s pads to lead 3-1. Will Gilmour was next in line on the scoring sheet with a great assist from Arunasalam along the baseline. Gilmour nailed the conversion to put HC Melbourne in the lead 5-1. Then Kiran Arunasalam finished out the half by scoring and converting to give him a hat-trick and a 7-1 lead going into the major break.
The third term started with Will Gilmour finding the net once again and making no mistake of the conversion, stretching the lead further to 9-1 and totalling four goals for Gilmour. Kiran Arunasalam equalled Gilmour’s goals finding the net again in the 41st minute, giving Melbourne a 10-1 lead going into the last term.
Canberra Chill came out hard in the final term while HC Melbourne took their foot off the accelerator. Canberra’s Danie Conroy made the field goal and conversion in the 49th minute while Backhus made it three to his name with two goals in the final minutes. The game was all but done with a whopping 15 goal haul and HC Melbourne becoming the first team in the league to hit double figures.
HC Melbourne take on NSW Pride on Sunday 20th October Catch it LIVE on Kayo. Get you 14 day free trial: bit.ly/2kEGhKG
Women’s match – 1.00pm
Men’s match – 2.30pm
RESULTS
Women: Hockey Club Melbourne (2) defeated Canberra Chill (0)
Goal scorers: 30’ – Madi Ratcliffe (HCM), 35’ – Hannah Gravenall
Men: Hockey Club Melbourne (10) defeated Canberra Chill (5)
Goal scorers:
CCH: 2’,54’ & 54’ – Garry Backhus, 49’ & 49’ Daniel Conroy
HCM: 14’,30’, 30’,41’ – Kiran Arunasalam , 14’ – Aaron Kleinschmidt, 15’ – Craig Marais, 25’ ,25’,37’,37’- Will Gilmour, 49’ & 49’
Friday 18 October 2019
State Netball & Hockey Centre, Melbourne (VIC)