Six-goal rout helps Spencer Park move further clear on top of ladder, Peaks secure finals double chance

Title fancies Spencer Park continued their impressive season in the Lower Great Southern Hockey Association men’s A-grade competition, thumping Vikings in the penultimate round on Saturday. Park had their only blemish of the season earlier this month, losing to Vikings, but they were ruthless in their round 11 fixture to put away six goals in a rampant display. It was a clinical display from start to finish for the premiership favourites, storming to a 13th win of the season with an emphatic 6-0 triumph. The goals were shared around as Nathan Crosby, Benjamin Ross, James Leiper, Alex Fergie and Brock Keymer all found the back of the net, along with Darren Parkes who was fresh off WA Country representation. Vikings tried hard in defence to limit the damage but Park were far too strong up front. Charlie Hudson was superb for the winners and well supported by Keymer and Fergie with the result pushing their side 20 points clear on top of the ladder. The loss ended the finals hopes of the last-placed Vikings as they are now five points adrift of North Albany who are third with only one round left in the regular season. David Pyle won plenty of possession in Saturday’s heavy defeat while Tim Burns and Ryan Durrell also played well. Round 11 was rescheduled to last Saturday because of the Hockey Australia Country Challenge that was held in Albany for a week and the regular season will be completed this weekend with round 12 being played. In the other men’s A-grade game last Saturday Manypeaks were too strong for North Albany to secure a top-two finish and finals double chance. Peaks skipped four points clear in second spot as a result of their 3-0 win over the Redbacks. Star midfielder Chris Metcalfe led the way with a double, after recently winning a silver medal with WA at the national championships. Mitch Bradbury also scored as Peaks won their sixth game of the season and set up a showdown with Park in the first week of the finals. Metcalfe, Tim Pyle and Hayden Mills were among the best for Peaks while Phil Stan-Bishop and Hamish Wilkes worked hard in a losing affair. Round 14 was played midweek with Park defeating Vikings 2-1 on Tuesday and Redbacks defeating Peaks 2-0 on Thursday. In the women’s A-grade competition, Redbacks and Park shared the points in their round 12 clash on Saturday. Bridget Tilse netted Redbacks’ only goal and Louise Quartermaine scored for Park, the match ending in a one-all draw. Those two sides have both earned a double chance in finals and will face off in the first week to decide who qualifies directly into the grand final. Goals from Sarah Buckley and Shaydn Gardner ensured Mt Barker finished with a 2-0 win over Manypeaks on Saturday night. It was Mt Barker’s fifth triumph of the season and they will play the loser of the top two in the preliminary final next month. State duo Zali Spencer and Laura Archer were important in the win along with Jessica McPartland while Jemma Sayers was prolific for Peaks. In round 15 of the women’s A-grade competition that was played midweek, Peaks prevailed 2-1 over Park on Tuesday night while Redbacks edged out Mt Barker 1-0 on Thursday. Both competitions will play their final rounds of their regular seasons this Saturday.