Thundersticks Sweep Sydney and Blaze Run Riot: Hockey One Saturday Shakes Up Round 3

Saturday belonged to the visitors. Perth Thundersticks flew into Sydney and took both games off NSW Pride, and a few hours later Brisbane Blaze turned their home game against Adelaide Fire into a rout. Three games, three firsts: Perth’s men off the mark, Brisbane’s men off the mark, and Pride’s men beaten for the first time this season.

The Sydney double started with the men at 1pm AEDT. Perth won it 3-1. That’s a big result for a side that arrived winless — they’d lost to Tassie and to HC Melbourne — against a Pride side that had won both its games. The league’s own full-time graphic confirmed the score, and Perth’s players celebrated it like the breakthrough it was.

The women followed, and it was tighter: Pride 2, Thundersticks 3. Perth’s women held on for a one-goal win, and the celebrations in the post-match photos said plenty about how much a Sydney double means to a travelling side. Two wins in one city, on one day. That’s a road trip done right.

Then Brisbane. The Blaze men had also started 0-2, and Adelaide had shipped 18 goals in two games. Something had to give, and it gave spectacularly: Blaze 10, Fire 1, in the rain at the Queensland State Hockey Centre. The league, the Blaze and the Fire all posted the same full-time graphic, so there’s no doubt about the margin. Ten goals. In the wet. Adelaide’s season is turning into a long afternoon — 28 goals conceded in three games now — while Brisbane finally have something to build on before the Melbourne derby weekend takes over.

What it means

Pride’s men are no longer perfect, and the top of the table just got crowded. Canberra Chill still lead the way after their Hobart win on Friday night, but the chasing pack has changed shape: Pride drop to two wins and a loss, Perth and Brisbane both have their first wins on the board, and Adelaide are still searching for anything at all.

Sunday is the one everyone circled weeks ago: the first Melbourne derby, Cobras against HC Melbourne. The Cobras women are unbeaten, the HC Melbourne men are back-to-back champions, and after Saturday’s results, nobody in this league looks untouchable anymore.

Related: Saturday’s Hockey, Sorted: A Johor Cup Final, the Bundesliga’s Game of the Season and Six Games in England, Hockey One Round 3 Opens in Hobart: Tassie Tigers v Canberra Chill, the League’s Two 2-0 Men’s Teams, Japan 2-2 Pakistan: Draw Sends Pakistan Into the Johor Cup Final on Goals-For, Live Centre, The First Melbourne Derby: Champions HC Melbourne Meet the Cobras on Sunday.