LAUNCESTON'S Queechy Penguins and Burnie's City Marians widened the gap between themselves and the chasing pack with wins in the weekend's round of Greater Northern League Hockey.
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The South Launceston Suns kept an undermanned Bloods scoreless in the first half of their match in Launceston.
Joe Jones gave the Suns the lead 17 minutes into the first half with a deflected field goal, taking them to the break.
The Suns again looked dangerous as the second half got under way, but missed passes and wide shots were the order as the Bloods stepped up the pressure.
A classic arm wrestle ensued with the Bloods' Clinton Upchurch posting a field goal to give them a lead they would not relinquish.
The Devonport Subbies claimed the first goal in their clash with Tamar Churinga in Launceston.
A field goal for Dereck Henry gave the Subbies the lead 15 minutes into the game, but the hard-running Tamar youngsters levelled from the stick of Mitchell Mozko minutes later sending the teams to the break locked together.
The spiteful encounter continued with the defences of both sides under plenty of pressure from fast breaks, until Henry found a way through to post his second for the game giving the Subbies the lead.
Devonport held on to win and moved itself from fifth to fourth as the fight for the minor places in the four continues.
Ladder leaders and reigning premiers Queechy Penguins were too strong for the South Burnie Hawks in Burnie, taking a percentage-boosting five-goal win.
The Hawks' defence found itself under plenty of pressure early in the game with Queechy young gun Matthew Knox scoring a hat trick, giving it a comfortable lead at the break.
Hawks coach Roger Ambrose and Taylor worked hard in their defence to contain the Qs in the second half, holding them to one field goal for Matt Selby and a corner conversion for Qs coach Khan Riley after the siren.
Launceston City remains third on the ladder after drawing with the Smithton Saints in Circular Head.
In a battle of the midfields Smithton's Gene Poke, Jason House and J. Smith found Launceston's Giles Osborne, Dominic Gill and Ben Walker an even match.
Results - City Marians d South Launceston 2-1. Goals - CITY MARIANS: Craig McCarthy, Clinton Upchurch. SUNS: Joe Jones. Best - CITY: Craig McCarthy, Eddie Gates, Simon Vandenberg. SUNS: Chris Banfield, Craig Kershaw, Keelan Beattie.
Devonport d Tamar Churinga 3-2. Goals - DEVONPORT: Dereck Henry 2, Addison Davis. TAMAR: Mitchell Mozko, Sam Rossetto. Best - DEVONPORT: Ben Loone, Dereck Henry, Dubbel. TAMAR: Mitchell Mozko, Rob Partridge, Evan Lawrence.
Queechy Penguins d South Burnie 5-0. Goals - QUEECHY: Matt Knox 3, Khan Riley, Matt Selby. Best - QUEECHY: Matt Selby, Matt Reid, Cameron Horne. SOUTH BURNIE: Kurt Edmunds, J Taylor, Roger Ambrose.
Launceston City dw Smithton 2-2. Goals - LAUNCESTON: Michael Jones, Ben Walker. SMITHTON: Anthony Lockett. Best - LAUNCESTON: Giles Osborne, Dominic Gill, Ben Walker. SMITHTON: Jason Smith, Gene Poke, Jason House.