THE Wagin men played in the Challenge Cup on the weekend in what was a first against second fixture for the mid season final.
Wagin was not able to beat the reigning champions Warriors and lost the game 2-0.
It was a hard fought game with goals being hard to come by.
Both teams attacked relentlessly but neither team could seem to break the other team’s defence.
It took until 20 minutes into the game for the first goal as Warriors got a short corner and fired a shot which hit a Wagin defender’s foot and deflected into the top of the goals.
This was the only score of the half.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first with both teams attacking and both teams’ defence holding firm.
It was Warriors though who broke through, sealing the game with only 10 minutes to go thanks to some miscommunication in the D.
The final score of 2-0 was better than last time the two teams played but Wagin still has a lot of work to do.
Umpires best were Dwight Kellow, Tim Weaver and Kim Hough.
The team traveled to Narrogin two weeks ago for a rescheduled game against Olympics.
In what were clearly the worst conditions Wagin has played in, in at least five years they came away with a much needed victory.
With howling wind, sideways rain and a temperature of about five degrees Wagin turned up the heat on Olympics and thrashed them 9-0.
With Xavier White and Ben Hodge back in the team Wagin decided to stack their forward line and play aggressive hockey and this is exactly what they did.
Wagin won the toss and immediately had Olympics under pressure, Wagin were swarming all over the ground and it took only minutes for Wagin to get on the score board.
Paul Ward has been Wagin’s leading goal scorer all year and he was determined to continue his run.
He scored the first two goals of the game within the opening three minutes, leaving Olympics to wonder how they could stop him.
Dwight Kellow then stepped up on a short corner and fired of a great shot.
Ward broke through the defence and nailed his third goal of the half to give Wagin a 4-0 lead.
Kim Hough joined in, as the ball was crossed through the D Hough trapped it and smashed it into the back of the goals making the score 5-0 and all within 15 minutes of hockey.
A couple of Wagin’s players then went off to let some of the more inexperienced players have a run.
The rain was getting heavier, making it hard to run with the ball or hit it away but Wagin held its lead to the break.
The second half got underway and Wagin went back to their original line up and Paul Ward went back into aggressive mode adding his fourth goal after some great work from Wagin’s defenders.
There were more reasons to celebrate, minutes later as Tim Weaver went sliding on his belly like a penguin into the D, somehow dragging the ball through the water and into the goals to score his first goal for Wagin and make it 7-0.
Shortly after that Paul Ward scored his fifth goal of the match, bringing his total to 16 goals at the halfway mark of the season.
Brenden Hall was next to get on the score card. He beat two players in the D then fired one past the goalie on his back stick to complete the rout and finish 9-0.
This was all done once again within the first 15 minutes of the half and Wagin again rested players and changed the team around.
When the final siren went everyone was happy to get off the field and out of the rain.
Everyone for the Wagin team played well with Brenden Hall, Ben Hodge, Kim Hough and Paul Ward running amok up forward and Xavier White, Ben Kirk and Kevin Foale holding up the defence and helping Bliss get his first clean sheet.
Umpires best were Brenden Hall, Ben Hodge and Kim Hough. Goal scorers were Ward 5, Kellow, Hall, Hough and Weaver all 1 each.
Fin Gel played his first game for Wagin and looks a really bright star of the future.
The next game is against Williams on the Turf in Narrogin at 5.30pm on Saturday.
Training is at 6pm Thursday.
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