Newman upset home town favourites Karratha in North West hockey champs

Underdogs Newman took out the North West hockey championships on Saturday in a shootout against Karratha, beating out teams from Port Hedland and a combined Dampier, Wickham and Point Samson side. The grand final fixture between Newman and Karratha went to a penalty shootout after the score was nil-all after 70 minutes. Newman came away with the 2-1 victory in an upset win against the host side. Newman defeated Port Hedland 5-nil earlier in the tournament. Hedland defeated Dampier 2-1 and Karratha 3-2 behind impressive goal keeping from Danielle Grout. Karratha’s Shannan Bradley was awarded the women’s MVP for the tournament and team mate Lachlan Seabrook took home the men’s MVP. Tim Ballantyne from Dampier/Wickham claimed the Steve Cook Cup while goalkeeper Danielle Grout and Fiona Webb were best on ground for the Hedland representatives. Karratha Hockey Association president Steven Knight said the standard of hockey was impressive over the weekend. “Everybody was enthusiastic, playing hard and there were some good goals being scored and some good saves by the goalkeepers,” he said. “It’s really good for hockey in the Pilbara.” Karratha Hockey life member Steve Cook said it was a great experience playing hockey with people across the Pilbara. “There’s some really good players in the Pilbara that lots of people wouldn’t be aware of,” he said. “There are some really top players here, both male and female, and it’s a pleasure to play with them. “You will notice the hockey is a really good standard but it’s more about the social side of things.” Champion Newman player Kassie Patterson said it was great to reconnect with players she met at Country Week. “Everyone made such an effort to come down and and we got to do things like penalty shootouts, which we never get to do,” she said. “This is the biggest we’ve had the tournament, with the four teams and we’re really hoping to make it more professional.” Patterson said they would compete again next year.