After a two-week hiatus, the Goulburn Geckos returned to the playing field on Saturday with a dominant victory over Old Canberrans Hockey Club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Goulburn Hockey Complex hosted a one-sided performance by the home side, which took place in "terrible" weather, coach Ben Staines said.
The visitors have been weakened by a number of departures this season, and were outrun by a young and extremely fit Goulburn outfit.
"[OCHC] are struggling this season, I think they've lost a couple of names," Staines said. "They're running out of legs I think, and yesterday we made them pay for it."
While OCHC have struggled this season, and now sit at the bottom of the ladder with one draw and four losses, Goulburn were rearing to go after a bye the week prior and a washed out match a fortnight ago.
"We came off the back of a bye round, the week before our game got cut short because of the weather, so we haven't had the greatest preparation," Staines said.
"So we were keen to get out there and when we had good passages of play, we made something of it."
Staines contributed four goals to the Geckos' win, which served as perfect preparation for this Friday's match against Wests.
Wests and Goulburn are the leading teams in this year's competition, in second and first place respectively on the ladder.
In years past, Wests have compiled a winning record over the Geckos - including victory in the 2018 grand final - which is something Staines is eager to amend.
"I think they've pipped us the last couple of times we've played," he said.
"We've always played reasonably well against them, I think we've just got to stick out the entire 60 minutes of play. We play well in passages, but we have to do that the entire game, and we have to take our chances when they come to us."
The key, he believes, is ensuring as many players attend practice as possible in the lead-up, something which is difficult to prompt in such miserable weather.
"We're struggling with getting numbers to training, nobody wants to train at 6pm after a long day at work," Staines said.
"We're not getting bad numbers, but you've got to push through it. At the end of the day it's who puts in the most time at training that comes out on top."
Both sides are quite similar in make-up: both have a number of young, talented players, complimented by older, more experienced veterans.
Staines said the biggest challenge on Friday will be overcoming Wests' midfield and ensuring the Geckos make the most of their chances.
"They've got an awesome midfield, we've got to work it in and out, keep the ball moving," he said.
"All the basics, but we've got to be clinical and work hard. They're a young and fit team, it'll be a challenge for us in the fitness department but we've got the drive and the engine room to push through it and come out on top."
The Goulburn Geckos will take on Wests at the Carter Field in Canberra from 6.20pm on Friday, August 28.
While you're with us...
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.