Hockey One: Perth Thundersticks’ hopes of back-to-back titles alive after 6-0 semifinal thrashing of NSW Pride

Perth Thundersticks women are on the verge of back-to-back Hockey One triumphs after they put NSW Pride to the sword 6-0 in their semifinal in Melbourne on Saturday. After narrowly overcoming NSW last week, Perth produced a statement victory as Lexie Pickering and Neasa Flynn did most of the damage in front of goal. The Thundersticks scored three either side of half-time and will face Melbourne Hockey Club on Sunday for a chance to claim a second consecutive title. An ecstatic Perth captain Line Malan said she was proud of her teammates after they raced out of the blocks and put the game beyond doubt heading into the final quarter. “We obviously did our homework after playing NSW last week, and tried to tidy up on a few things, which I really think the girls executed those things today which we’re very pleased with,” Malan said. “It’s all about recovery now from our end and we are very fortunate to have the first game up today to give us some time. But it’s just reset, recover and make sure we’re ready for tomorrow. “The grand final will be a tough game regardless of who we play since it’s such a tight competition this year, so we’ll have to come out really strong from the outset and try to replicate the pressure we came with early in the contest today.” Pickering opened the scoring inside six minutes when Flynn flicked a shot in her direction off a penalty corner and the striker helped the ball into the net. Flynn got a goal of her own in the second quarter when a turnover well inside Pride’s half allowed her to apply the finish, before she converted her goal to make it 3-0 at half-time. Any hopes of a NSW comeback were dashed after the break when Pickering smashed home another chance and duly converted the goal to extend the lead to 5-0. The icing on the cake was applied by Courtney Schonell two minutes later, although she was unable to add the extra with a conversion. NSW desperately searched for a consolation, but found Thundersticks goalkeeper Zoe Newman hard to beat, while Perth’s own attempts to add to their advantage were thwarted by Tegan Neowhouse. Melbourne beat Adelaide Fire 4-2 in the other semifinal to tee up a meeting with Perth in the grand final, which starts at 12.45pm at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Victoria.