HC Melbourne Win First Melbourne Derby 8-5 as Cobras’ Wait Goes On
HC Melbourne have won the first Melbourne derby, and they did it the loud way. The back-to-back champions beat the Melbourne Cobras 8-5 at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Sunday, in a game that never really settled down.
The Cobras came in still chasing a first men’s win. They left still chasing one, but they made HC Melbourne work for every bit of this. Abu Mahmood was superb from penalty corners, dragging home three of them in the 30th, 48th and 54th minutes. Peter Scott added a field goal in the 31st minute and then beat the keeper in the one-on-one challenge that follows a Hockey One field goal, so that one strike counted for two on the scoreboard.
That’s the quirk that shapes so many Hockey One scorelines. Score a field goal and you get a straight shot at the keeper for a bonus goal, and the good teams cash in. HC Melbourne cashed in repeatedly.
Nathan Ephraums led them. He scored in the 18th minute, then struck again right on full time in the 60th and converted the challenge that came with it. Damon Steffens added a penalty corner in the 45th minute. Ky Willott scored in the 50th and took the bonus too, and Benjamin White did the same in the 57th. Add it up and that’s eight, built on four bonus goals as much as on open play.
The result keeps HC Melbourne perfect. Three games, three wins, nine points, and 18 goals scored. Canberra Chill sit alongside them on nine points at the top, so the champions can’t afford a slip. The Cobras, meanwhile, are learning how unforgiving this league is. They’ve got talent all over the pitch, and Mahmood’s corner routine alone will win them games, but they keep getting caught in shootouts they can’t quite control.
What it means is simple. HC Melbourne stay in the top-two hunt with a game in hand on the chasing pack in spirit, if not on paper, and their attack looks deeper every week. Ephraums now sits on five goals for the season, joint top of the scoring chart. For the Cobras, the first win has to come soon, because the table won’t wait for a new club to find its feet.
What’s next tells its own story. The Cobras head to Perth to face the Thundersticks on Sunday 1 November, which is about as tough a place to break a duck as there is. HC Melbourne are back at home on Friday 6 November against the Tassie Tigers. If the champions play like they did in this derby, that one could get loud too.
Related:
Thundersticks Stay Perfect: Perth Edge NSW Pride 3-2 in Sydney
Brisbane Blaze Women Beat Adelaide Fire 3-0 in Hockey One Double
