Casuals coach confident ahead of critical clash

Australs, buoyed by their victory over Rovers last week, will be keen to repeat their performance against Casuals this Friday night in the Quantum Surveys round of fixtures.

The game will be hotly contested as Casuals reaffirmed their position as competition heavyweights with a good win over Yacht Club.

Casuals coach Darren Shepley said the team had focused on improving their defence.

“We have fine-tuned our defence and structure to stop leaking so many goals and hopefully this improves our results, ” he said.

Australs play a hard-running style of open hockey and will be hoping to stun Casuals’ deep defence.

Dermott Collins has a deadly drag flick on penalty corners and will have to be watched while goalkeeper Ben Mynott will have to continue his hot form against the hungry Casuals forwards.

Yacht Club will be looking to atone last week’s loss against Casuals by beating Saints in the 4pm fixture on Saturday.

In a preview of the Challenge Cup, Kit Tapper and Shay Connolly will be keen to show their ascendancy in the midfield and create multiple scoring opportunities while Saints, who were given a hockey lesson by Murchison in the first half last week, hope to find some consistency for a full 70 minutes.

Saints have the poorest goal- scoring record in the league and need to look at their forward structure.

Rovers, currently in a form slump, meet a red-hot Murchison on Sunday.

Rovers created lots of scoring opportunities against Australs last week but were unable to convert.

Pete Murray and Tanna Brandis worked extremely hard in the midfield but were exposed in deep defence and this will be a problem for coach Adrian Watson against a fast and aggressive Murchison forward line.

Murchison have also stabilised their defence with the return of Rohan Norris.

Ben McGowan gives them control of the midfield and Rovers will have to play sustained pressure hockey to see a positive result.

The women’s competition will deliver a round of interesting match-ups. Australs play Swans on Friday night.

These teams lie third and fourth on the ladder with little between them on paper.

Australs had a 3-1 loss to Cardinals last week but created many scoring chances and it was their inability to convert penalty corners that cost them dearly.

Swans continued their inconsistent form with a 1-1 draw against last-placed Yacht Club.

Saints and Yacht Club face off on Saturday at 5.30pm.

Both sides are improving and a close game should result.

Yacht Club would be pleased with a draw against Swans last week and Saints had a far better structure and intent in their 4-1 loss to Murchison.

Both sides need to try to control the midfield to give their forwards scoring opportunities.

On Sunday, a Challenge Cup preview will take place with Cardinals and Murchison going head to head.

Both have proven to be the dominant teams with strong defences and midfields.

Cardinals convert their chances more readily than Murchison, who need to show more aggression and technique in the circle.

Cardinals were missing Erin Cooper at right half last week and her presence makes a difference.