Comets fire for finals

CASEY Hockey Club’s Metro Three South men’s side won through to the semi-final with a 5-1 belting of Southern United at home on Saturday.
The Cannons showed the wide gap between third and fourth, running all over United with precise passing and strong skills from front men Craig Moore (one goal), Blaine Cridge (two) and Steven Randall (two).
Casey slotted home four first-half goals to effectively end the contest.
Captain Rodney Tredoux was disappointed his side crowded the ball in the second half, but was proud of his side’s ability to snuff out the opposition’s chances in the first. The seconds dropped out in a heart-breaking golden goal finish against the Greater Dandenong Warriors.
The Cannons had all the running, at one point sitting pretty at 4-1 up. But the Warriors, through a combination of questionable umpiring decisions and the Cannons running out of puff, whittled away at the scoreline and, 30 seconds from full time, tied the scores at four apiece.
In the event of a draw at full-time, both sides play five minutes at each end and the first scorer wins – the Warriors were first to score to end Casey’s season. Josh Hondow (two), Paul Hogg and Matt Gittus were the goalscorers.
The women’s seconds went down 3-0 to Metro One South powerhouse Mentone, but lives to fight another day, courtesy of its second-place finish.
The Cannons held the undefeated Mentone to a scoreless first half before the latter broke away in the last 10 minutes to score three unanswered goals.
The women’s State League Three team came away from its trip to Footscray with a hard-fought 2-0 win over WestVic Hockey.