Royals pulled off a stunning 2-1 upset over division one men’s hockey reigning premiers CSU/Rivcoll at Jubilee Park on Saturday.
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With Royals scoring the early goal, CSU’s defence was again caught napping, as Callum Clayton snuck one past Scott Sippel.
The rest of the half neither team gave an inch despite the numerous attacks by the CSU forwards, Keegan Craven unable to find the goals.
In the second half, CSU lifted when captain Nick Fahey beat Royals keeper Logan Wilford to draw level.
But Royals hit back when veteran Iain Wilford slipped one past Sippel to regain the lead.
In the final frantic minutes, CSU tried to rally and get one back, but Royals defenders Tim Cranston and Luke Bradley held strong to give Royals back-to-back victories.
Meanwhile, Harlequins recorded their first victory over Lake Albert this season, triumphing 4-2 after finding themselves on the wrong end of multiple thrashings by their old rivals in recent meetings.
The two goal victory wasn’t known until the final 10 minutes after both teams looked to be playing out a 2-2 draw.
But a turnover by Lake Albert defender Benson Williams that went straight to Harlequins captain Brendan Watson resulted in a certain goal and gave the green boys the lead.
Lake then threw caution in the wind and went all out attack which backfired when Daniel Gyles scored his second goal for Harlequins with three minutes left to secure a two goal victory.
Meanwhile in the division one women’s competition, Royals White claimed their eighth straight victory to maintain their unbeaten run, overcoming fellow club side Royals Blue 4-2.
Sarah Bonny led the way for the white team and added another two goals to her goal scoring tally, with 12 goals at the halfway point of the season.
She is now just five ahead of her nearest rival and teammate Bronwyn Harper.
The blue side tried hard but were desperately missing regular keeper Cass Bell with Lyndall Nickell manning the goals.
Jesse Thompson and Kate Wickson were unable to stop the white team’s advances with Kalee Gibbons causing them numerous headaches.
A depleted CSU/Rivcoll survived a late scare to overcome their bogey side Rosellas 4-3 and record their second win of the season.
With Emma Lynch, Elise Kinsey, Sam Moxon and Georgie McGregor all unavailable, the students had a tough challenge.
On the other side of the ledger, Rosellas had their opportunities to win the game.
It didn’t help when star player Kira McBeath was sent from the field after disagreeing with the umpire’s decision.
CSU’s Chayse Holland proved to be a problem for Rosellas defenders despite the best efforts by Kerrie Coggan and Eliza Naseby, with Holland setting up many attacks into the circle.
Rosellas strikers Cindy White and Carla Bailey scored a goal each.
But CSU newcomer Sophie Gough and defender El Beeson also found the back of the net.