Home Sides Sweep Hockey One Round 5 as Ephraums Hits 13 and Govers Makes It Five From Five

Eight games, eight home wins. Hockey One Round 5 belonged to the hosts, and nobody who travelled came home with anything. Hockey One’s own wrap has the full scorers.

The headline act was in Parkville on Friday night. HC Melbourne’s men beat the Tassie Tigers 5-1, and Nathan Ephraums did most of the damage with a hat-trick. That’s 13 goals for the season now, six clear of anyone else in the league. Cooper Burns got the other two, and Jack Welch replied for the Tigers. The Melbourne women were just as ruthless, winning 6-1 behind a Mihaylia Howell hat-trick. Howell is now joint-top of the women’s scoring chart with Amalia Patterson and Courtney Schonell.

Saturday in Sydney had the game of the round. NSW Pride’s men drew 3-3 with Canberra Chill, then won the shootout 3-1. Blake Govers scored again, which means he’s now scored in all five games this season. Toby Mallon’s 60th-minute equaliser, plus the conversion, dragged the Pride level, and Dylan Brick’s two goals weren’t quite enough for the Chill. The Pride women won 2-0, with Abby Wilson scoring from a penalty corner in the 20th minute and Patterson adding another a minute later.

Perth was a procession. The Thundersticks women beat Brisbane Blaze 1-0 through Jolie Sertorio’s 55th-minute penalty corner, and that keeps them perfect: five wins from five, only three goals conceded all season. The men went further, winning 9-2, with Brodee Foster and Daykin Stanger both scoring three and Tom Harvie adding two.

Then Bendigo on Sunday, where the Melbourne Cobras finally got their season moving. The men trailed Adelaide Fire 3-2, then scored eight unanswered goals to win 10-3. Peter Scott got five of them, Jake Whetton four, and Gurshaibjit Singh one. It was the Cobras’ first men’s win of the season, and it came in style. The Cobras women won 2-0 through Claire Colwill and Delfina Thome Guastavino.

Round 5 results in full

Men: HC Melbourne 5-1 Tassie Tigers; NSW Pride 3-3 Canberra Chill (Pride won shootout 3-1); Perth Thundersticks 9-2 Brisbane Blaze; Melbourne Cobras 10-3 Adelaide Fire.
Women: HC Melbourne 6-1 Tassie Tigers; NSW Pride 2-0 Canberra Chill; Perth Thundersticks 1-0 Brisbane Blaze; Melbourne Cobras 2-0 Adelaide Fire.

Round 6 is Pride Round, 13 to 15 November, and the headline fixture is the top-of-the-table double-header: HC Melbourne host NSW Pride on Friday night. The men go in with Melbourne four points clear of the Pride, and the women sit second and third. Tassie host the Cobras, Perth’s women put their perfect record on the line at home to Adelaide, and Brisbane host Canberra.

For our money, the title races are starting to take shape. Perth’s women look near-unbeatable, and Ephraums is running away with the scoring charts. But the Pride v Melbourne double-header on Friday is the weekend. If the Pride win both, the whole season tilts.