Coraki hammer in seven goals

CORAKI took the field without the injured Simon Brown and Ben Moss but still managed a 7-4 win over Alstonville in Far North Coast A-grade men's hockey on Saturday.

In the other game at Hepburn Park, Goonellabah, Northern Star scored in the final minute to edge out East Lismore 3-2.

Brown and Moss had calf muscle injuries and their absence allowed Alstonville to apply early pressure.

Ten minutes in, Coraki received a penalty stroke and Zach Clark had no problem putting it past goalkeeper Todd Seymour.

Alstonville persisted and even when they were reduced to 10 men for backchat they managed to equalise through Mitch Harley.

Back-up player Adrian McGrath responded with a classic back-stick shot off a Mitchell Scotcher pass for Coraki to go one up just before half-time.

Scott Gallagher extended the lead to 3-1, then he and McGrath each claimed their second goal within three minutes.

Coraki scored their sixth through David Brown and Aaron Scurr made it seven.

At 7-1 it was all over but Alstonville stuck at it and two more goals to Harley and one to Boehm made the scoreline respectable.

Best for Coraki were Trent and David Brown, Mitch Dunstan and Zach Clark.

For Alstonville, McKendrick, Harley and Beohm gave it their all.

East Lismore were first to score in the other game when Matt Rodda pounced on a loose ball from a backline pass with a high shot into the net at the 15th minute.

Easts should have went 2-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half when an open goal went begging, but they were still on top.

They also started the better in the second half. Isaac Dawson and Marcus Currie were in everything, while Ryan Holding was inspirational.

Star were missing the easy ball, hitting long and could have played better but they drew level with 15 minutes to go when Adam Grill lined up a loose ball and smashed it in.

East Lismore were down to 10 players when Star was awarded a penalty stroke and Thomas Vantaggiato made no mistake.

Easts converted a penalty corner to level and with desperate defence kept their opponents out until the final 40 seconds when Harmon converted a penalty corner for Star with an accurate flick.

Darryl Hughes was solid for Star, while Vantaggiato and Hassett also played well.

Other scores:

Reserve grade: Coraki 7 d Northern Star 1, East Lismore 4 d Alstonville 1, North Lismore 3 d Ballina 2.

B-grade: Northern Star 2 d Coraki 1, Summerlanders 1 drew with Alstonville 1, North Lismore 3 d East Lismore 1.

C-grade: Northern Star 1 drew with Ballina 1, Alstonville 2 d East Lismore 1.

Final pointscores:

A-grade: Northern Star 29, Coraki 25, Alstonville 12, East Lismore 11, Ballina 1.

Reserve grade: Coraki 49, Northern Star 45, East Lismore 34, North Lismore 19, Alstonville 10, Ballina 7.

B-grade: Northern Star 38, East Lismore 34, Coraki 31, North Lismore 25, Ballina 20, Summerlanders 9, Alstonville 4.

C-grade: Alstonville 39, Ballina 32, East Lismore 11, Star 11.