CANBERRA CHILL PREPARE FOR MUST WIN SHOWDOWN

CANBERRA CHILL PREPARE FOR MUST WIN SHOWDOWN

The Canberra Chill women find themselves in a must win situation against Hockey Club Melbourne this Friday night needing to secure points to clinch a place in the Hockey One Finals in Canberra 25-26 November, despite having secured wins in four of their five matches this season.

The Chill women’s only loss of the year came in round 1 against Perth Thundersticks and since then have rattled off four straight wins. However due to the nature of the season, and two of their losses having come via penalty shootout, the inform Chill must travel to Melbourne this weekend and come away with points to secure a place in the finals series at home.

Canberra Chill head coach Matt Cook added “It’s one of the crazy things about the league. It’s a sprint tournament and you can’t afford to leave any points on the pitch. The great news is though that we control our destiny and that is all you can ask for in any competition”.

The Chill will welcome back star defenders Edwina Bone and Roisin Upton who were both unavailable for last Friday’s win over the Brisbane Blaze in what is sure to be a huge boost for the side. In form striker Mikayla Evans is in some doubt for Friday’s clash but Cook added he was confident that Evans would take her place. “Mik suffered a fractured patella on her left knee just prior to the season. She has unfortunately now suffered a similar blow to her right knee so we will just need some scans to clear her of any significant damage before she takes her place in the line up”.

The Canberra Chill men were unfortunately eliminated from contention despite having lead 4 – 0 with 10 minutes to play. Brisbane stormed home to level the scores aided by some controversial officiating to take 6 – 4 victory, and effectively end a season that has been the classic tale of what might have been.

This weekend will see the Chill give some opportunities to some squad members that are yet to play this season. Midfielder Oscar Smart and striker Jeremy Hopkins have been rewarded for their dedication and commitment to the team and will be given a chance to press for more playing time with strong performances against Melbourne on Friday night. Brendan Hill will return in the goal and Jamie Hawke returns to the side having missed the Brisbane match.

Friday nights fixture will see a first for hockey in Australia with the match being broadcast live in Hindi on Seven + and a large crowd expected to attend to see Indian superstar Rupinder Pal Singh in action.