Torquay in hockey grand final

TORQUAY’S Division 1 Women’s side will play Saints in the Geelong Hockey Association grand final on Saturday Stead Park.

It has been a good season for the club as their Under 17 and Under 12 sides will also play in finals on Saturday, while the Under 10s have already won their division.

The Senior Men’s side and the Division 2 Women’s team also both narrowly missed out on grand final places in the weekend’s preliminary finals.

The Division 1 Women’s side have had a strong season, finishing second but equal on points with first-placed Geelong Jaguars.

The teams coach Sarah Storen said she was pleased the team was building on the success of previous years.

“This season has been a strong year for the Torquay women Divsion 1 team and we are exciting to be in the Grand Final again, making it 5 years in a row.

The Saints are a strong team and while we have beaten them a number of times this season we expect a tough game on Saturday.”

Torquay then beat Geelong Jaguars in the qualifying finals to guarantee themselves a place in the grand final.

Torquay’s Emmaline Shand is currently atop of the scorers chart for the league with 16 goals to her name, helping Torquay be the most prolific team in the year.

The previous games between the Saints and Torquay have often been close.

The Saints won 3-2 when the sides first met early in May. Torquay then edged their next meetings 1-0 and 4-2, 4-3 and 5-3, before managing a more comprehensive 4-1 win on the final day of the normal season.

The two sides meet at 3:30pm on Pitch One.

The other Torquay sides in grand finals will play on the same pitch, with the Under 12s starting their match at 8:30am, and the Under 17s at 11am.