The NSW Pride Men and Women both took full points from the visiting Adelaide Fire in round 6 action of the ONE Active Hockey One League in Goulburn on Friday night.
The win for the Men, 6-1 in the end on the back of a four-goal haul from star Blake Govers, secures them a place in the finals series in Melbourne at the end of November, while the 2-0 win for the Women against the 2nd-placed Adelaide guarantees they will finish on top of the league.
It was a challenging evening for the Men against the bottom-placed and winless Adelaide Fire, but they found the opening goal in the 9th minute through Blake Govers, who converted a rounded shot from Nathan Czinner and then scored his one-on-one to establish an early 2-0 lead for the Pride. In the second quarter Govers had a hat-trick on the board by converting a penalty stroke, while Jared Findley scored from a one-on-one to give the Pride a commanding 4-0 lead at half -time.
Adelaide tightened up their defence in the second half, though, trying to prevent another double-digit loss this season, but goals to Czinner and a fourth to Govers in the final quarter made sure of the result, while Jeremy Hayward scored a late consolation goal in the final minutes for the Fire.
NSW Pride Men Head Coach Kieran Govers was proud that his team got the win to secure them a spot in the finals.
“They’re a quality side with quality individuals, so we knew we had to be on our game and play to our structures,” Govers said. “We’ve got a good balance. We’re going okay, but I still want to tweak a few things – it’s an exciting next couple of weeks.”
Midfielder and goalscorer Nathan Czinner said his side had to work had for the result, but that it was a good test for the team in the lead up to the finals series.
“It was a really tough game – especially the first half. We knew they were going to come out really strong,” Czinner said. “We’ve really improved since last year, we’re having fun out there.”
A tough midfield tussle in the Women’s match saw the top two sides go head to head, but the Pride Women emerge victorious though a moment of world-class finishing from Grace Stewart.
The star Hockeyroo, celebrating her 50th senior game for NSW, took a brilliant one-time shot with the reverse stick from the top of the circle to score the only field goal in the third quarter, which secured top spot on the ladder and a 2-0 win on the night.
Stewart said post-game that the team had a great sense of togetherness that’s driving them forward.
“We’re having a lot of fun playing together as a team, and I’m just really enjoying being out here with the New South Wales girls,” she said. “It was a really tough and tight contest out there – relieved to definitely put the ball in the back of the net at the end there.”
NSW Pride Women Head Coach Scott Barker was happy for his side to return from the week off and take full points against a fellow title challenger, but acknowledged it was a tough match.
“We weren’t too good with the ball, and out core fundamentals probably weren’t where they needed to be, but sometimes you need to grind out a victory and that is exactly what we did,” Barker said.
“I’m really proud of Grace [Stewart],” he said. “She’s a world-class striker – she’s got those goals in her toolbox every day of the week.”
Both teams now head over to Western Australia for the final round of the regular season where they will play the Perth Thundersticks next Sunday, before heading to Melbourne for a finals campaign on the last weekend of Novvember.
Results:
Friday, 14 November 2025 at the Goulburn Hockey Complex, Goulburn, NSW
Men
NSW Pride 6 – 1 Adelaide Fire
Goal scorers
9’ Blake Govers (NSW)
9’ Blake Govers (Conversion) (NSW)
22’ Blake Govers (Penalty Stroke) (NSW)
22’ Jared Findley (Conversion) (NSW)
35’ Nathan Czinner (NSW)
53’ Blake Govers (NSW)
57’ Jeremy Hayward (ADE)
Women
NSW Pride 2 – 0 Adelaide Fire
Goal scorers
43’ Grace Stewart (NSW)
43’ Grace Stewart (Conversion) (NSW)