HOCKEY Coffs Coast’s Over 45s men’s masters team have celebrated winning a state title in dramatic style.

The Hockey Coffs Coast team won the B-division state title at the recent Over 45s Field State Championships in Moorebank.

Hockey Coffs Coast won the state title in dramatic fashion with a golden goal victory in extra time against Central Coast in the final.

Team captain Jonathan Williams praised his side’s efforts in bringing home a state title as they kept their nerve in a close final.

“That was a great effort from our boys, we’ve been in that situation before and came up short so I’m really proud of our commitment and composure,” he said.

After a couple of late withdrawals, the team was left with a very lean twelve players, meaning a single substitute for the duration of the tournament.

Highlighting the family nature of the sport, the Coffs Coast team would include four parents of the all-conquering U15 girls team who’d won gold the previous week in Parkes.

The team got off to a great start though with a 3-0 win over the Parkes ‘Space Men’ and followed that up with a 4-1 win over Northern Inland in game two.

With a 1-1 draw with Central Coast and a win against Orange on day two, the mighty Sandpipers would finish the pool matches on top of the table and set up a semi-final show-down against Parkes.

The Parkes boys caught Coffs napping early in the game and skipped away to a 1-0 lead.

The Coffs team held their composure and managed to peg a goal back thanks to a well-timed pass from Jonathan Williams to Adam Ellison who turned and flicked the ball into the net.

Parkes managed to skip ahead again before the Williams/Ellison combination struck for a second time.

That levelled the scores and with a final goal from Mark Perry, the Coffs boys surged into the final to meet their nemesis, Central Coast.

Team captain Williams explained that his side beat their recent rivals in the semi-final and final to win this year’s state title.

“We’ve been in the finals for five or six years in this age group and it’s been Parkes or Central Coast who’ve beaten us on each occasion,” he said.

The gold medal match was played in front of a large and vocal crowd.

In a war of attrition, the two teams simply couldn’t be separated.

Adam Ellison opened the scoring for the Coffs boys with a bullet-like drag flick before Central Coast levelled late in the second half to force the game into ‘golden goal’ extra time.

It wouldn’t take long for the game to be decided, and it would be the Coffs boys who would take the initiative.

With a couple of smooth passes, the ball moved swiftly through the mid-field to Tim Rodgers who drove the baseline, drew in the goalkeeper and pulled the ball back for Mark Perry to slam home the ‘golden goal’ and a 2-1 victory for Hockey Coffs Coast.

In a well-deserved reward for their efforts, the following players were selected to represent NSW at the O45 National Championships on the Gold Coast later in the year; Jonathan Williams (NSW O45/1), and Scott Waddell and Mark Freeman (NSW O45/2).

Hockey Coffs Coast’s Over 45s men’s masters team: David Baird, James Bladwell, Chris Dickson, Adam Ellison, Brett Francis, Mark Freeman, Matthew, Geall, Mark Perry, Tim Rodgers, Scott Waddell, Lachlan Webb, Jonathan Williams (c).

By Aiden BURGESS