Hockey: Simmons strike hands Spartans victory

Upstarts 1-2 Spartans

A highly-competitive men’s match caught fire early when Upstarts scored in the third minute thanks to an unmarked Tyler Smith.

It didn’t take long for Spartans to draw level, though, and it came from a penalty corner. Nigel Deane found Donovan Simmons at the top of the circle and he produced a powerful drag flick that beat the keeper.

Early in the second half Spartans thought they had taken the lead off the stick of Samuel Thompson but his slap shot was ruled out because a foul was committed in the build-up.

The game was finally settled when Spartans’ Donovan Simmons converted after excellent work from Richard Minors on the 50-metre line.

Women’s games

Budgies A 2-0 Ravens A

An evenly-matched game in blustery and rainy conditions saw both teams go all out for a win.

This first half saw eight penalty corners awarded to Ravens but none of them executed well enough to get on the scoresheet.

However, Budgies were more clinical and converted one of their four. The ball was fed to the top of the circle by Francesca Cacace and she found Keishae Robinson, who fired the ball goalwards. After a deflection off a defender’s stick and with the Ravens’ keeper off her line, Tse Minors made no mistake.

The second half took a while to spark into life but eventually it was Budgies who made the breakthrough to seal victory.

Azari Thomas dribbled the ball into the circle and slipped the ball to Jasmine Patterson, who doubled the lead in the 53rd minute.

Ravens B 0-1 Wildcats B

Wildcats made it three wins in a row after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a tough and spirited Ravens.

The teams traded chances with both goalkeepers, Joanne Bielby (Ravens) and Anti Williams (Wildcats) forced into action.

The goal, though, came in the 24th minute after a series of good passes through the midfield by Wildcats. The ball then found its way to Suzanne Moniz via Gemma Godfrey — and Monzi stopped the ball, steadied herself and slotted home.

Ravens regrouped during the halftime break and came pressing hard from the start. However, Wildcats keeper Williams was up to the task supported by juniors Ashley Steede and Pier Simons as well as the defence of Belthea Pringle, Ryce Trott, Pam Royce and Brenda Smith.

Canaries B 0-1 Longtails B

After a scoreless first half, Longtails’ Maya Palacio broke the deadlock when her shot went in via a deflection off the keeper with just three minutes to go.

Swallows B 0-1 Budgies B

Swallows were forced into a tough shift after starting out with a squad of 10 and seeing that reduced to nine in the second half.

The winning goal came in the first half when Vanessa Carroca scored a field goal to the right of the keeper.