It took a penalty shootout for the Magpies men’s hockey team to claim a grand final berth where they will meet the Pambula men on Saturday.
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The Magpies were inseparable on the scoreboard from the Grand Hotel men’s side in Saturday’s preliminary final as play drew level at full time.
Even a bout of extra time couldn’t secure a result with the Magpies winning through 2-0 in the ensuing shootout.
A spokesman for the Pambula men’s side said it will be a riveting grand final on the weekend as it shapes up as a rematch of last year.
“We’re going into another grand final against the Bega Magpies who we lost to in last year’s competition,” the spokesman said. “This year, we’re hoping to come out as the successful team.”
The spokesman said the draw had been fantastic and “evenly matched”.
“It’s something which makes it a joy to play,” he said.
Sapphire Coast Hockey publicity officer Hanna Koerbin said both Pambula and the Magpies men’s teams had been trading blows all year and the result on Saturday was setting up a hotly contested end of season showdown.
In the women’s draw, United had a tightly contested 1-0 result over the Tathra Babes and will now progress to meet Elders on Saturday.
Koerbin said play was extremely tight with United getting the edge off an early goal and rallying to keep the Babes at bay until the final siren.
“It was pretty even on attacking pressure throughout, it was a really close match,” she said.
The result has set up a grand final rematch, but Elders have been a dominant force in the competition this year – and also snagged the premiership last year.
Koerbin said competition between the teams had all been pretty consistent, but said United were the second best attacking side to Elders and hoped her squad could be the ones to knock Elders off the pedestal.
Koerbin said there were also two excellent B and C grade games held over the weekend, setting up exciting finals.
Play is at the Bega Valley Fields on Saturday.