The last games of the preliminary rounds of the Wimmera Hockey Association winter season were completed at Dimboola on the weekend, with most games still having an influence on the team placings leading into the finals.

The most significant outcome was the Dimboola Kangaroos claiming the last place in the Under 16 finals, at the expense of the Yanac Warriors, after having spent the entire season to date in fifth place on the ladder.

The teams to contest both the Women's and Open finals did not change, although the Kaniva Women came close to an upset result in their game against the Yanac Women which would have allowed them to sneak into the top four.

Open

While the match ups for the first round of the Open division finals were set nearly a month ago, the Dimboola Burras signalled that they will be a team to take seriously when they overcame the Warrack Hoops in a tight game on Friday evening. This result has seen them finish in third place, which is a position that looked beyond them six rounds ago.

The Burras team, which included visiting Hockey Victoria North West Regional Community Hockey Coordinator Ged Grimwade, was able to play a more disciplined game and make better use of the ball in the midfield than their higher ranked opponent.

Although both teams displayed a robust defence for most of the game, Burras' half back Tim Jorgensen was able to convert a short corner with seven minutes of play remaining which the Hoops were unable to match. Jorgensen got the votes as the Burras' best player and Hoops' centre half, Paul Slater, was named his teams' best.

The Kaniva Cobras needed a victory over the Yanac Tigers to stay ahead of the Burras but they fell four goals short in a game in cold conditions on Saturday evening.

The Tigers took the lead towards the end of the first half through Brad Alexander, although the one gaol lead at the half time break was not a true indication of the amount of time the ball was in their forward line.

Despite determined defence the Cobras could not prevent three more Tigers' goals in the second half. Michael Dart scored two the Tigers' goals and Duncan Shalders was named best player for the Cobras.

The third Open division game had the most riding on the result, as a win by the Nhill Rangers has seen them move off the bottom of the ladder for the first time this season, relegating the Horsham Hurricanes to the wooden spoon.

In a very even game where some good stick skills were on display, Paul Mackereth scored the first goal for the game to put the Hurricanes ahead but Jack Janetzki scored twice before half time to have the Rangers in front at the break.

Lachie Wilde scored twice in the second half to stretch the Rangers' lead to which the Hurricanes had no reply.

Women

After spending many seasons towards the bottom of the ladder, the Kaniva Women found some form this season. When they were leading the Yanac Women, the 2016 minor premiers, well into the second half of their game on Saturday it looked as if their dream of an appearance in the finals may become a reality. It was only a late surge by the Yanac team that yielded two goals which denied the Kaniva team a fairy-tale finish to their seaosn.

A feature of Kaniva's play this season has been their strong defence and this was once again on display on Saturday against an equally strong Yanac attack. Goalkeeper Symone Mitchell and Rachel Clark combined well to repel many Yanac attacking moves whilst full backs Anne Blackwood and Sophie Pipkorn defended effectively at the other end of the field.

Kaniva scored a goal against the flow of play within three minutes of the resumption after half time and they maintained this lead until Yanac was able to convert two short corners late in the game to take the lead.

With their comfortable win over the Warrack Women on Friday evening, the Dimboola Roos were able to confirm a top two finish, and the important double chance in the finals, which looked unlikely half way through the season.

The Roos took control early in the game and the shorthanded Warrack team struggled to match them. Vicky Smithyman led the scorning with three goals and Jennifer Klinge scored two and the leading player for Warracknabeal was Tiffany Bull at full back.

The final Women's game for the round saw the Horsham Jets take on the Nhill Thunderbirds with results earlier in the day having rendered this encounter inconsequential to the final placings. A loss by either team would still see them both meet again next week in the first semi final.

Two goals for the Jets, scored by best on ground Ellie Morrow and Launa Schilling, was enough to take the points and the psychological advantage over their opponent before next week. Amelia Rintoule played a strong game at centre half back to be named the best player for the Thunderbirds.

Under 16s

In the Under 16s competition, the Dimboola Kangaroos were able to hold on for a draw against the more fancied Warracknabeal Revengers, which moved them into fourth place but they then had to wait for the result of the next game to see if they would remain there and earn a place in the finals.

This was a very even and entertaining game which yielded very few scoring chances, and solid defence from both teams prevented any scoring. Rebekah Albrecht and Daniel Danish were the better players for Dimboola and Sandon Schultz and Oskar Bennett earned that honour for the Revengers.

This result was enough for the Kangaroos to move into the top four for the first time this season.

The Yanac Warriors fought courageously but the win or draw they needed to return to the top four eluded them as the reigning premiers, the Kaniva Raiders, honed their premiership defence.

Deegan Clark scored his first goal at the Under 16 level for the Raiders and along with three goals by Luke Shalders ensured a comfortable win over the Warriors who were unable to score. Visiting exchange student Arial Martin was named as the Raiders' best player in his last game before returning home to France and Mikayla Farmers and Lewis Wheaton dominated the game for the Warriors.

Whilst they could not qualify for the finals, the Horsham Bombers took the game up to the ladder leading Nhill Leopards to fight out a three all draw which placed them on equal points as the Warriors and only two points short of a finals appearance.

After a string of unsuccessful seasons, the improvement shown by the young Bombers this season suggests that they will be a serious contender for the finals next season. Traiyth Leffler finished a successful personal season with all three goals for his team in this game and the nomination by the umpires as the Bombers best player. Two goals to Blake Miller and one to Emily Koop was enough to draw the game but the Leopard still finished 14 points clear of second place on top of the ladder.

Under 12s

The Yanac Lowan Stars could only score three goals in reply to the Kaniva Rampagers' four and in the process lost their first game for the season and the Nhill Bandits scored eight goals to the Horsham Blackhawks five to with their fifth game this year.

Semi Finals Preview

All of the semi finals games will be played on the artificial pitch at the Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre next Saturday and the match ups will ensure six enthralling games.

In the first game in the Under 16s competition the Dimboola Kangaroos will be determined to prove that they deserve the place in the top four that they earned with a draw last week, although the Kaniva Raiders have been improving over the last half of the season after a slow start and will be hard to beat.

The Warrack Revengers are the only team to defeat the Nhill Leopards so far this season, but that was over two months ago, and they have not been playing at their best since then.

After a loss in the grand final last year, the Leopards will have all the incentive they need to win this game and progress directly to the grand final. If the Revengers can rediscover their best form this will be an captivating game.

After slipping to third on the Women's ladder two weeks ago for the first time this season, the Horsham Jets will be confident that they can repeat their victory over the Thunderbirds from last Saturday evening to progress to the preliminary final.

The Thunderbirds have shown that they are the best of the lower three teams, but the 22 point difference between them and the Jets immediately above them on the ladder suggest that they will struggle to break into the top three with a win.

After a slow start to the season it was not until round 13 that the Dimboola Burras' could begin to make plans to play in the finals, but since then they have shown sufficient form to suggest that they will be a team to watch in the finals. Their recent form has been patchy but their best form should be good enough for them to progress to the second round of finals.

Their opponents, the Kaniva Cobras, have not enjoyed much success in finals over the years and will be determined to register a win, which they are capable of if they play at their best.

The last game for the day will be the always anticipated clash between perennial finalists the Yanac Tigers and Warrack Hoops. So far this season they have won one game each and played out a draw in their three encounters so this game could go either way but whatever the result the spectators will be treated to a quality game of hockey.

Semi Final Fixture - all games at the Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre

9.00am      Under 16s      1st Semi Final      Kaniva Raiders      v. Dimboola Kangaroos
10.45am Women 1st Semi Final Horsham Jets v. Nhill Thunderbirds
12.30pm Under 16s 2nd Semi Final Nhill Leopards v. Warrack Revengers
2.15pm Women 2nd Semi Final Yanac Women v. Dimboola Roos
4.00pm Open 1st Semi Final Kaniva Cobras v. Dimboola Burras
5.45pm Open 2nd Semi Final Yanac Tigers v. Warrack Hoops

Round 15 Results

Under 12s
Kaniva Rampagers 4 (Goals - K Clark 2, M Goodwin, N White) d. Yanac Lowan Stars 3 (Goals - C Hassall 2, L Farmers)

Nhill Bandits 8 (Goals - I Deckert 7, V Maloney; Best - T Rowe, H Trenery) d. Horsham Blackhawks 5 (Goals - S McLellan 3, S Schwarz 2; Best - S Schwarz)

Final Under 12s

   Pts      GD
Yanac Lowan Stars 56 67
Kaniva Rampagers 42 65
Dimboola Kookaburras      36 59
Nhill Bandits 22 -38
Warracknabeal 10 -67
Horsham Blackhawks 10 -86

Under 16s

Warrack Revengers 0 (Best - S Schultz, O Bennett, L Klemm) drew with Dimboola Kangaroos 0 (Best - R Albrecht, D Danisch, N Krelle)

Kaniva Raiders 4 (Goals - L Shalders 3, D Clark; Best - A Martin, J Bothe, M Goodwin, L Shalders) d. Yanac Warriors 0 (Best - M Farmers, L Wheaton, A Dickinson, S Pipkorn)

Horsham Bombers 3 (Goals - T Leffler 3; Best - T Leffler, E Mellor, T Thomas) drew with Nhill Leopards 3 (Goals - B Miller 2, E Koop; Best - E Murden, J Reichelt, B Miller)

Final Under 16s

   Pts      GD
Nhill Leopards 54 50
Warrack Revengers 40 14
Kaniva Raiders 36 21
Dimboola Kangaroos      18 -29
Yanac Warriors 16 -7
Horsham Bombers 16 -49


Women's

Dimboola Roos 7 (Goals - V Smithyman 3, J Klinge 2, E Woods, A King; Best - E Klinge, J Klinge, Z Aitken) d. Warrack Women 0 (Best - T Bull, A Morrow, J Bull)

Yanac Women 2 (Goals - E Alexander, C Beattie; Best - L Bone, C Beattie, E Alexander) d. Kaniva Women 1 (Goal - C Tink; Best - S Mitchell, R Clark, C Shurdington)

Horsham Jets 2 (Goals - L Schilling, E Morrow; Best - E Morrow, L Schilling, A Fogarty) d. Nhill Thunderbirds 0 (Best - A Rintoule, G McLeod, E Murden)

Final Women

   Pts      GD
Yanac Women 54 32
Dimboola Roos 42 41
Horsham Jets 40 31
Nhill Thunderbirds      18 -20
Kaniva Women 16 -32
Warrack Women 10 -52

Open

Dimboola Burras 1 (Goal - T Jorgensen; Best - T Jorgensen, T Dent, C Halsall) d. Warrack Hoops 0 (Best - P Slater, W Hewitt, R Brown)

Nhill Rangers 4 (J Janetzki 2, L Wilde 2; Best - Mont Miller, S Bone, Murray Miller, J Janetzki) d. Horsham Hurricanes 1 (Goal - P Mackereth; Best - P Mackereth, J Bannan, W Gulline, J Ronaldson)

Yanac Tigers 4 (Goals - J Harding 2, B Alexander, S Dorrington; Best - T Alexander, N Alexander, B Alexander) d. Kaniva Cobras 0 (Best - D Shalders, C Stimson, L Shalders)

Final Open

   Pts      GD
Yanac Tigers 54 41
Warrack Hoops 48 34
Dimboola Burras 28 -2
Kaniva Cobras 28 -4
Nhill Rangers 12 -25
Horsham Hurricanes      10 -44