All Blacks will contest the Bundaberg Hockey Division 1 Men’s Grand Final for the seventh year in a row after edging out Arrows/Athletics 3-2 in the Preliminary Final on Saturday, but standing in their way are two-times defending champions and Minor Premiers Waves Cities, who defeated them 1-0 in the Major Semi-final.
The match is set down for 5pm tomorrow.
All Blacks were down 2-1 against Arrows until Queensland junior representative star Isaac Wales equalized with a stunning goal, before he also scored the winner in extra-time.
Cities finished eight points clear of All Blacks at the top of the table, but at full strength, they are two very good evenly matched sides, and another epic duel is expected.
The Division 1 Women’s Finale at 3.15pm will also be a classic between reigning Premiers and Minor Premiers Arrows/Athletics and Premier League champions Raiders/Rovers after they bounced back from their 4-2 Major Semi-final defeat at the hands of Arrows to knock out Cities 2-1 in the Preliminary Final with a double to Abby Heffernan.
Raiders/Rovers are the best represented club in the Grand Finals with five teams to fly their flag, also in D2 Women, D2 Men, Under-11, and U13, while All Blacks have four teams involved, also in D2 Men, U11, and U16, with three from Waves Cities, also in D2 Women and U13, and two from Arrows/Athletics, also in U16.
The Division 2 games are on tonight, with tomorrow’s program starting with U11 at 10am, and running through into the night.
Preliminary Final results:
U11s
All Blacks 4 (Brayden Sinnamon 1, Jonathan Wriede 1, Eamon D’Albret 2) defeated Arrows Athletics 1 (Jessica Stehbens 1)
U13s
Waves Cities 5 (Cameron Callaghan 1, Jeanica Cilliers 1, Ruby Potter 1, Sophie Aitkenhead 2) defeated Arrows Athletics 2 (Hamish Cook 2)
U16s
All Blacks 2 (Tim Wales 1, Landa Appo 1) drew with Waves Cities 2 (Connor Castelli 1, Indianah Fidock 1) – All Blacks proceed to Grand Final on points.
Division 2 Women
Waves Cities 1 (Karen McGuire 1) drew with All Blacks 1 (Zoe Jones 1) – Waves Cities proceed to Grand Final on points.
Division 2 Men
All Blacks 5 (James Raines 1, Thomas Chadwick 1, Aaron Chanoff 1, Ben Neller 2) defeated Waves Cities 0
Division 1 Women
Raiders Rovers 2 (Abby Heffernan 2) defeated Waves Cities 1 (Jaslyn Phillips 1)
Division 1 Men
All Blacks 3 (Nathan McGill 1, Isaac Wales 2) defeated Arrows Athletics 2 (Jake McCaig 1, Keith Scherer 1)
NETBALL: The unbeaten Waves Gold will be chasing four straight Bundaberg Netball Warren Family Homes Division 1 Premiership titles in the Grand Final at the Superpark tomorrow at 5.30pm, but runners-up of the past three seasons, Brothers Hurricanes, will not be there after they suffered a surprise 37-28 Preliminary Final loss to Natives Magpies on Saturday.
Magpies finished a distant third on the ladder behind Gold, and while the three-times defending champions have swept all before them all year, anything can happen in finals.
Brothers will be the best represented club across the 12 grand finals, with seven teams, Tsunami (Masters), Lightning (D3), Tornadoes (D4), Wildfires (D5), Typhoons (D6), Whirlwinds (D7), and Blizzards (D8).
Five other Waves teams are engaged, Red (D2), Sapphires and Emeralds (Ladies), Fuchsia (D9), and Violet (D10). Fusion will be represented by five teams, Wessel Petroleum (D3), Force (D4), Precision (D6), Firestorm (D8), and Fireflies (D9), with four from Alloway, Green (Masters), Yellow (D5), Orange (D7), and Lilac (D10), and two in Natives colours, also Eagles in D2.
There will be 6 games at 2pm, and 5 at 3.40pm, before a Men’s Charity Game at 5pm, leading into the main event.
FOOTBALL: Former Golden Boot winner Bryce Hibberd hammered in a double to lead the charge as League Champions and hosts Across the Waves powered on straight into the Grand Final with a 5-1 demolition of Bingera in their McDonald’s Football Queensland Premier League Wide Bay (FQPLWB) Men’s Qualifying Final showdown on Saturday night.
But Bingera will get their second chance in the Preliminary Final at Martens Oval at 6.30pm tomorrow against United Park Eagles (UPE), who bounced back from their drubbing by Fraser Flames a week earlier to turn the tables on them in the Elimination Final 3-1 with a double to young gun Harrison Nasso.
Unbeaten Women’s League Champions Fraser Flames also advanced against KSS Jets 3-0, with Jets now to duel with UPE in the Preliminary Final at Fraser Coast Sports Precinct at 8.30pm tonight after a Kylie Brislane goal was enough to secure UPE a 1-0 Elimination Final triumph over Waves.
Waves also lost the Under-23 Men’s Qualifying Final to Bingera 1-0 with Dean Pickup the match winner, with Waves now to battle it out in the Preliminary Final at Martens Oval at 4pm tomorrow against Flames who thumped Sunbury Blues 5-1.
In FQPLWB Under-16, League Champions Waves were beaten in the Qualifying Final by Bayside Strikers 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out after the match ended in a 1-1 draw, while UPE eliminated Bargara White 5-0, with Waves now to cross swords with UPE at Martens Oval at 1.30pm tomorrow.
In U13, Flames qualified against Jets 2-1, while Waves knocked out Bargara Just Freight 1-0, with Waves to now to travel to Fraser Coast for their date with destiny against Jets.
The Wide Bay and Fraser Coast Division 1 Men’s semi’s both resulted in 4-0 loss to the two Bundaberg sides with Brothers-Aston Villa going down to United Warriors, and Diggers shut out by Granville, with Villa now to suit up against Granville in the Preliminaries at Martens Oval at 4pm tomorrow.
In the Wide Bay North Division 1 Women’s 1v4 semi’s, League Champions SC Corinthians downed Waves 2-0, and second placed Diggers accounted for UPE 3-0, with Corinthians and perennial bridesmaids Diggers to chase the silverware in the Grand Final at 7.30pm tonight at Martens Oval.
WBN Division 2 Men’s League Champions UPE outgunned Villa 3-1 with a double to veteran Nick Maas, taking his season tally to 42, and his son Ethan, who is second to him in the Golden Boot, scored the other goal, his 19th of the season, while second seeds Waves whitewashed Bingera 5-0 with two goals to Jayden D’Addario.
Their Grand Final blockbuster will be at 6.30pm tonight.
There will also be two FQPLWB junior Grand Finals at Martens Oval tomorrow with Bingera up against SC Corinthians Gladiators in U13 Division 1 A at 10am, followed by a Bingera Fire v UPE U16 D1A finale at 11.30am.
HORSE RACING: Bundaberg trainer Laura Cronan looks to have another very smart galloper in Regalo D’Oro, which made it two wins from as many starts on the Thabeban Park track with a dashing all-the-way victory in the Ulton Cup Benchmark 60 Handicap on Saturday.
The striking chestnut was the second outsider in the field of five, paying $4.80, but jockey Adam Spinks jumped him straight to the front over the 1212m course, and he gave his rivals a galloping lesson, crossing the line 6.5 lengths clear of long-shot Aurora Dancer ($8) with champion Bundaberg trainer Darryl Gardiner’s new recruit Coyote in third position.
Regalo D’Oro was the only locally trained winner on the program, with I am Fearless, ridden by Adam Sewell for Nanango’s Glenn Richardson, defeating Darryl’s Ethelda in the Benchmark 55, Master Drummer getting the money on track debut for Gympie’s Andrew Mead with new apprentice Brodie Moffat in the saddle, Our Lil Sistar, from the Ipswich stables of Beau Gorman, ridden by another new apprentice Rob Thorburn to take out the two-horse PSC Insurance Brokers Open Handicap, and Take the Lead repeating his success from the previous Rum City meeting in the Morgans QTIS Benchmark 50 for Thangool’s Kale Sinclair and ridden a treat by apprentice Sophie Blunt.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Gin Gin will be the place to be for Northern District Rugby League’s third annual NDRL v Indigenous All Stars games.
Gates open at 2pm, with free admission and the Women’s League Tag clash at 3pm, followed by the Men’s at 5pm.
There will also be a jumping castle, face painting and much more.
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