It's not every day you take home a national gold medal but Tasmania's over-55 hockey side did just that by taking out division two of the Australian Masters Championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After battling through tough pool-stage losses to New South Wales and the Northern Territory, competition was tight but the Tasmanians pulled through and came home the champions, defeating NSW 4-0 in the grand final.
Leading goalscorer and player of the series Phil Deavin said it was certainly a career highlight.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"They've always been the powerhouse team of the competition, they have like 400 people try out for their teams so they are like the arch-nemesis," he said.
"You come up against them and more often than not, they are victors but we came up against them, very confident in our team and ended up winning 4-0."
After a scoreless first-half performance, defender and captain Tim McDevitt was able to sneak forward and secure the game's first major before an onslaught of Tasmanian goals in the last.
Bryan Walter, Deavin and Glenn Tremayne all found the back of the net, securing the fifth national gold medal in Tasmanian hockey history alongside Deavin's eighth goal for the tournament.
"NSW said to us afterwards that they've always got the first goal.
"They scored the first goal in every other match in the tournament and they sort of said, 'if we don't score first, we can come back.' but we got the first goal and it mentally disrupted their plans and everything went really well for us after that
"I think we just had more legs, we were definitely the fitter side at the end of the competition and just overpowered them.
"We could have done it earlier but didn't find the back of the net but then it just started coming together and scoreboard pressure is a real thing and it changed the mental state of the team."
Sharing the moment with fellow Northerners Terry Deavin (his brother), Wayne Ottaway, Peter Bodell, Peter van Winden and Gerry Barwick, another family connection made the occasion even more special for Phil, who has been playing the sport for almost 40 years.
"I was really proud that my son, Tim, played his first masters in the over-35s competition.
"It's certainly unusual for father and son to be playing at the same competition and he was selected in over-35 Australian side after representing the Kookaburras for a long time and is the current vice-captain of the Tassie Tigers."
Subscriptions are available here.
Sign up to our Sport email here.
Know a junior sport star? Make a nomination for our 2019 Junior Sports Awards here.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
