Cannons blow St Bede’s away

A NEW-look Casey Cannons Metro Three South hockey side crushed St Bede’s 5-1 on Saturday.
Numerous attacking efforts yielded just one goal – Craig Moore’s penalty flick – in the first half.
A turnover and some sloppy defending saw Casey concede a goal despite St Bede’s going a man down due to a yellow card.
Coach Rodney Tredoux implored his players to stick to their structures and give the early ball, even threatening to bench those who did not adhere to this.
It seemed to work as Casey came out firing and young gun Blane Cridge slotted the team’s second after some slick work that started in defence.
A third came through a brilliant solo baseline flick from Moore a short time later and St Bede’s back was broken.
A corner variation saw Andrew Axton drill one into the d, which deflected off Cridge’s stick into the net.
A fifth goal came through a brilliant end-to-end play that saw Steven Randall round off the side’s second victory in as many weeks.
The Cannons’ State League Three squad took on a powerful Footscray side and was in the game throughout before succumbing 3-2.
In the women’s division, the Metro Four South side put in a valiant effort, but went down 1-0 against Sandringham.
In the junior match of the week, Casey’s under-nine white team welcomed the visiting Frankston for their round-four clash and came away with an entertaining 4-3 win.
The Cannons took the early ascendancy through goals from Mitchell Tomkins and Josh Daniell.
Casey was able to hold its lead to half-time due to Erin Tuohy’s, Carter Reed’s and Ross Shilliday’s strong team play.
Frankston scored early in the second half to put the pressure back on before the Cannons reclaimed a two-goal buffer through a breakaway goal from Tomkins.
Frankston scored again, but the talented Daniell produced a strong run down the sideline and Tomkins converted his cross to secure his hat-trick.
Frankston managed a third close to time, but Rebecca Wagg’s strong defence prevented the visitors from netting the equaliser.