NSW win gold in last-ever Australian Hockey League season

The NSW Arrows have won the last-ever Australian Hockey League (AHL) women’s title after a pulsating gold medal match at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre on Sunday night.

The Arrows defeated hosts Queensland Scorchers 7-6 in an end-to-end decider, while in the men’s decider the NSW Waratahs would have to settle for silver after a 5-3 defeat to Queensland Blades.

NSW’s triumph means they’ve won every domestic female title this year, including under-age tournaments.

The matches marked the last-ever AHL before the launch of a revamped league next year.

NSW Institute of Sport was well represented in the New South Wales squads with 11 women and 18 men from the NSWIS Hockey Programs taking part.

NSWIS Hockey Program Head Coaches Brent Livermore and Katrina Powell were handed the reigns of the NSW Waratahs (men’s) and NSW Arrows (women’s) teams for the competition, whilst NSWIS Hockey Women’s Program Assistant Coach Ben Senior joined Powell in the same capacity with the NSW Arrows. NSWIS Performance Analyst Sam Marshall assisted both teams throughout the competition.

Queensland Scorchers 6 (S. Fitzpatrick 12’, 12’, 56’, Kenny 33’, Kershaw 59’, 59’) New South Wales Arrows 7 (Williams 5’, 5’, Hayes 21’, 21’, Farrell 35’, Stewart 49’, Wilson 53’)

Queensland Blades 5 (D. Wotherspoon 19’, 19’, 47’, Beale 22’, 22’) NSW Waratahs 3 (B. Govers 21’, K. Govers 43’, 43’)

Photo credit: Hockey Australia / Click in Focus