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Hockey: Melville City secures finals spot

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Josh ZimmermanMelville Gazette

MELVILLE City’s men confirmed their place in the State Hockey League finals series with a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Curtin-Trinity Pirates on Saturday.

Nick Tate and Justin McDougall both scored in the first half, and Tate followed up with a second after the break, before Curtin scored in the last minute of an at times scrappy encounter.

The victory seals only a second finals appearance in the top grade for Melville in its 60-year history.

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McDougall’s goal takes him to 20 for the season, a record for the club in the top grade.

Coach Russell Lee said securing a finals berth was only the start for his squad.

“That was a pretty ugly game at times, but we did enough to achieve the goal of playing finals,” he said.

“We now need to reset and aim to go as deep into the finals series as we can; most importantly we need to focus on our next game to lock up a double chance.

“We need to get better at playing to our standard at all times, rather than at the level of our opposition; we slipped into that trap for periods today.

“Next week gives us a chance to fine-tune our game in preparation for the finals.”