HC Melbourne Men claim Bronze in the Capital

Published Mon 27 Nov 2023

From outside the top 4, to a Bronze medal finish, it has been a fantastic season for Hockey Club Melbourne.

Over the weekend, the 2023 JDH Hockey One Finals Series in Canberra was jam packed with big moments for HC Melbourne. A fitting finish included underdog energy, an epic 26 attempt shootout which Mother Nature threatened to intervene followed by penalty strokes and a disallowed goal, the Finals Series had it all!

HC Melbourne picked themselves back up after the shattering loss in the semifinals going down 9-10 in penalties to Brisbane Blaze, to come up against the Tassie Tigers in the Bronze Playoff.

The match up against the Tigers was a tense contest that could have gone either way.

With the Tigers getting the first goal through a penalty corner, HC Melbourne had to switch up a gear. Josh Simmonds answered the call by returning fire with a penalty corner drag flick to bring the scores level. The game sat at a stalemate for the next 30mins, until Ben White and Nathan Ephraums linked up superbly. White found the goal at a tight angle, bringing the score to 2-1 where it would stay. The Tigers had a late charge in the final minutes with a disallowed goal but HCM with the skill of Johan Durst in goals were able to hold off and claim the win.

It has been a big campaign for HC Melbourne this year as they looked to improve on their 6th place finish last year. The season saw them have 7 players debut as well as a finals campaign missed by 4 Burras players who were on international duties for the Junior World Cup. This only demonstrates the well-equipped depth of the side that allowed for a lot of younger players to shine throughout the season and into finals, taking it to the newly crowned Hockey One Champions, Brisbane Blaze.

Head Coach Andrew Smith was elated post-match, quoting a focus on team culture as a catalyst for a successful season.

“Working together as a group and supporting each other no matter what happens… Go out there and back each other’s individual abilities and to bring that into the team environment.”

“The individual growth and also the growth of the group has been really pleasing.”