Hockey
25 May, 2026
Top-four battles shape hockey round
The latest round of the Wimmera Hockey Association season was played at the well-presented Anzac Park in Warracknabeal on Saturday, where several top-of-the-table matchups and battles for a hold on a place in the top four were featured.
The match that generated the most interest was the rematch of last season’s Women’s grand final between Yanac and the Dimboola Roos, both of which went into the game undefeated so far in 2026.
The first half saw some intense hockey, but neither team gained an advantage on the scoreboard nor dominance on the field, and it took until the final seconds of the third quarter for Jennie Hauselberger to convert a penalty corner, putting the Roos in front at the last break.
This inspired Yanac to increase the pressure, and Mikayla Mackley equalised within minutes of the restart, earning her team the lead minutes later with a second goal.
Several penalty corners were played out at the other end of the field as Dimboola tried desperately to stay in the game, and the opportunity to tie up the scores arose when they earned a penalty stroke.
Brooke McMaster successfully converted this into a goal to level the scores, and in the few minutes of play remaining, neither team could wrest back advantage.
They finished locked together, not just on the scorecard at the final whistle but also at the top of the ladder with the same points, although the Roos hold the top spot with a superior goal difference.
Another match that held the spectators’ interest right up until the end involved Kaniva Women and the Horsham Jets, where the former team was looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season last round, and after opening their season with a couple of losses, the latter’s incentive was to maintain the form that brought their first
win two weeks ago.
Kaniva appeared to dominate, earning eight penalty corners in the game compared to the Jets’ none, but resolute defence saw the Jets repel them all, and by three-quarter time the scores remained at nil-all. Thirty seconds into the last quarter, Kaniva’s persistence paid off when Holly Beattie found the net to put her team ahead.
This would be the only score of the match, which has kept Kaniva solidly in the top three and created an eight-point gap between the top and bottom halves of the ladder.
The third match in this division featured the two teams yet to taste victory, with the Nhill Thunderbirds winning the struggle for their first points for the season by comfortably overcoming Warracknabeal.
This result saw the ‘Birds displace the Jets in fourth place, but as these two are still only four points ahead, the sixth-placed Warracknabeal is still within reach of a place in the finals.
Open
With a bye in the Open division fixture, it is difficult, particularly early in the season, for teams to build momentum, making it hard to accurately judge their form, although after four rounds the top half of the ladder is taking on a familiar look.
The Yanac Tigers had the bye this week but kept their hold on top spot, and the Warrack Hoops and Kaniva Cobras registered wins to firm up second and third places on the ladder, respectively.
The Cobras and Horsham Hurricanes both came into this round yet to win a match, but have shown competitive form, and any result from a draw to a win by either would not have been considered an upset.
The Kaniva team earned the lead with a goal in the shadows of quarter time, but did not have full control of the game, highlighted by the penalty corner count for the game of twelve to eight in favour of the Hurricanes.
Despite this persistent attack, Horsham was unable to score, with the Cobras registering the only other goal of the match midway through the last quarter, sealing the match as a two-goal win.
The Warrack Hoops’ teamwork gave them the edge against the improving Nhill Rangers in a game that ended with a three-goal margin, leaving the Hoops in second place on the ladder and the Rangers in fourth.
Under 16s
The action in the Under 16 competition opened with a high-scoring match, which saw the Warrack Revengers score seven goals but they only won by one over the Nhill Leopards.
The Revengers had the better of the first quarter, scoring two goals while holding the Leopards scoreless, making it look like another potential one-sided matchup.
The situation didn’t look much better after the second quarter, by which time the Revengers had doubled their score and the Nhill team had just added one, making the score at the long break four goals to one.
The action stepped up in the third quarter, with another five goals scored in its seventeen minutes of play.
The Revengers added another two, taking their tally to six, but the Leopards mounted a challenge with three, reducing the margin to two by the start of the last period of play.
The home team added another early in the last quarter, extending their lead to three, but Nhill would not concede and put on another two of their own to keep the game alive, but ran out of time before they could draw even.
The result was a seven-goal-to-six win for the Revengers, which has them second on the ladder, with the Leopards just behind in third.
The meeting of the top two teams going into the round resulted in the Yanac Warriors leap-frogging the Dimboola Kangaroos into the top place on the ladder after a comfortable win over that opponent, and the Kaniva Raiders are on the verge of breaking into the top four after a hard-fought win over the Horsham Bombers by two goals to one.