Maitland Rams’ veteran third-grade side overcame warm spring conditions and a youthful Souths outfit to claim grand final glory via a 4-1 win at Newcastle International Hockey Centre on Saturday.
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The Rams had come off second best in both regular-season meetings against Souths, but were able to quickly turn the tables in the decider.
Led by club stalwart Nathan Baker, who struck twice in the first half and finished with a hat-trick, the Rams grabbed an early lead that was never relinquished.
While Baker acknowledged it was by no means a vintage performance, in the end all that mattered was the result.
“We did it pretty ugly, but you don’t care how you win, it’s a grand final,” he said.
“To get over those boys is huge, we haven’t beaten them all year and we knew it was going to be tough.
“We just took our chances. I think we might have had six or seven chances and took four of them, and in the end that’s what it’s all about.”
Despite Baker’s first-half brace the 2-0 half-time lead looked by no means absolute as the younger Souths began to work their way into the game in the second period.
“We just couldn’t get out,” Baker said. “While we were often able to stop them once we got it back they just starting pressing us.
“Our guys were buggered – we had no run left in us.”
The Rams were forced to defend a string of penalty corners and, when they finally cracked with 18 minutes remaining, it looked like a nail-biting finish was in order.
But the considerable turnout of black and white fans, stationed on Fordy’s Hill in the outer, needn’t have worried.
Within two minutes their two-goal lead was restored when young Ram Harry Saladine showed composure to slot home.
As Souths streamed forward to try to engineer a comeback, it was left to Baker to seal the decider in the final five minutes when he finished off a counter-attack to complete the hat-trick.
For Baker and the Rams’ group of veterans, the grand final was another notch on the belt against a side he felt were on the rise.
“Look, there’s some genuinely talented boys in that Souths side and in two or three years you’ve got a serious first grade side there,” he said.
“For us old blokes to get over them like we did is a big effort.”
In premier grade, Norths overcame Souths 3-1, while Regals claimed the women’s grand final 2-1 as Souths finished on the wrong end of another decider.
