Second stanza stunners seal hockey hat-trick

ALBION Park produced a stunning second half performance to win the Illawarra men's first grade hockey grand final against Wests Illawarra 4-1 at Lindsay Mayne Field on Sunday.

It was the team's third premiership in a row, and was probably the pick of the three against high-quality opposition.

It was also a great tonic for the club, which had earlier gone down in the fifth grade plate, third grade and second grade grand finals.

But it was first grade that mattered most, and the pressure showed on both sides in a tense first half struggle.

Wests scored first through a short corner goal by Elliott Ashby, while Park's best opportunity came just before half time when Kieran Govers' searing reverse stick effort was deflected by Wests goalkeeper Matt Perry.

At half time skipper Steve Mayo instructed his players to make better use of the midfield - tactics that combined with a slight change to the team's structure, produced stunning results.

The equaliser came just a few minutes after the break when Nick Commensoli's converted a short corner and found the goal.

With midfielders Mayo, Govers and Rhys Gray working over the Wests defence the opportunities came thick and fast, Jason Kast and Gray both hitting the post and several other shots just missing.

Eventually the pressure told when Govers made a great pass to Mayo, who in turn found Jason Kast in front of goal. Kast made no mistake with the shot to give his side the lead.

More opportunities came but it wasn't until 12 minutes to go that Kast, unstoppable in the second half, was on the spot again to make it 3-1.

With just two minutes to go, Mayo again found space at the top of the circle.

Presented with a one-on-one shot with the goalkeeper, he unselfishly hit a pass to Brad Martin to deflect in and seal the match.

It was a fantastic result for the Park, who had struggled at the start of the season but gathered momentum when it mattered most.

Kast, Govers, Mayo, Tom Gillard and Dean Nealon were outstanding in a team without a bad player.

Second grade was desperately unlucky, leading a slick University outfit three times after goals to Beau Anderson and two brilliant strikes by Lawrence Knight.

With a minute to go, Park was up 3-2 when Uni gained a controversial short corner, which was converted to force the game into extra time.

Uni scored in the first period and held on to score victory in a hard-fought match.

Jason Collett, Beau Anderson, Knight and Ian Mayo all played well in a gallant side.

Thirds, well beaten by Fairy Meadow two weeks ago, were a much different team this time around, Australian Masters rep Denis Cranston and Peter Hayes adding steel to the team's defence.

They had their chances, trailing 1-0 for most of the game before Fairy Meadow went up 2-0 in the second half.

Josh Kellam got one back late in the game but Meadow held on.

Fifth grade White struggled in the first half against Fairy Meadow, going into the break 2-0 down before going down 2-1.