The Footscray men’s Division Two hockey team celebrate victory over Kew in a penalty shootout on Sunday. 70637 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Liam Twomey
THERE was high drama at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Sunday as Footscray defeated Kew in the Hockey Victoria men’s division two Grand Final.
The result sees Footscray not only lift the premiership trophy, but also qualify for division one competition next year.
However they were made to earn their promotion with nothing coming easy on the day.
Kew made a great start to the contest, converting on two of their goal-scoring opportunities in the first half to open up a 2-0 lead.
Footscray’s best chance to score came a minute before half-time when their captain, Tom Griffen put the ball into the back of the net, only to have his shot disallowed because of an infringement.
The near miss seemed to spur Footscray on, who looked like a different team after the break.
They scored their first goal within one minute of the resumption of play and continued to pepper the goals for the next 10 minutes but were not able to final the equaliser.
Kew then scored a goal against the run of play to open up a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes to play.
Footscray refused to lie down though, hitting back with the next two goals through Matt Whitbread and Paul Mackinnon to draw the contest level.
Again, Kew pulled away thanks to a goal from a short corner and was left with five minutes on the clock to try and defend their lead.
They failed to last one full minute though as Mackinnon again hit the scoreboard to send the match into overtime.
After 15 minutes the deadlock couldn’t be broken and a penalty shootout was needed to split the teams.
Kew was the first to blink when Peter Bunting miss hit his penalty and it was easily saved by Footscray goalkeeper Peter Cleave.
However, the advantage was short-lived after John Kinder pushed his shot left to even the ledger.
An intense next 10 minutes left everyone on the edge of their seats as both teams went goal for goal until the score read 10-10.
Mackinnon then made another penalty which again gave Cleave the chance towin the game for Footscray.
He did not let his team-mates down as he dived to his left as the ball smashed into his pads and the 4-4 (11-10) victory was secured.
The Footscray players ran towards the stands before linking arms and belting out a spirited rendition of the club song with their supporters in what would have been the first of many celebrations heading into the night.
