So the Finals for the innaugural Hunter Cup arrive this Sunday. The best 3 teams from last weeks Matchday 1 were Ryde, South Newcastle and Maitland, and all 3 have made it through to the finals. They are joined by Glebe who snuck in courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Norths.

With the NIHC East field resurfacing project not being completed on time, it has meant access to only 1 field at Newcastle, so a slight change to the draw has been forced.

11:30am sees Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League rivals South Newcastle and Maitland Rams go head to head in a mouthwatering clash. This game will set the scene for the 2010 HCPHL, with the Rams certain to see how they rate this season against the competitions benchmark side. The Lions will be as keen to keeping thier great pre season form going strongly, and will want to show the 2009 HCPHL championship was well deserved with a victory here.

Rams coach Nathan Baker submitted his thoughts on the clash:

"Now that the dust has settled upon Maitland Park after what was a hot and energy sapping first day of the Hunter Cup it's time for the Rams to focus on the next task at hand which will no doubt be the toughest yet. 1.00 pm at the NIHC sees us go head to head with the 2009 HCPHL Premiers Souths.
This game is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at before the start of the 2010 season, Souths have had the wood on the Rams for as long as anyone cares to remember or forget, depending on who you are talking to. This is only my third season in Newcastle and I have always felt that Souths are the team to beat in the HCPHL so I am expecting nothing less than a well controlled, fast, physical and precise game of hockey, they have quality players in all positions and can seemingly create goals from nothing and we will need to be at our absolute best to get a result.
This week we will focus heavily on defence, teamwork and our opportunities to gain control of the mid-field. We will be trying a few positional changes to try and achieve this. If we can limit the amount of posession that players like Simon Vimpani, Daniel Edge and John Fernance have this will go along way to ensuring success.
The Rams will be looking to the usual suspects to stand up and perform well for this matchup. Pete Urquart and Brett Gallagher will be charged with keeping the goal scoring chances to a minimum at the back, Sean Henry will be moved into Centre half after two great performances last week while Ben Urquart and Matt Brown will be asked to get a handle on the mid field.
The bottom line for the Rams this week will be that we need to improve an our somewhat patchy performances of last week if we want to progress beyond this first matchup and get a crack at the $1000 purse. The winner of this match will be hard to stop in the Final."

At 1pm Sydney Premier League rivals Ryde Hunters Hill and Glebe will be showcasing thier brand of hockey at the NIHC. Ryde has a very young team and were very good to watch on Matchday 1. Thier fast paced, short passing game was a treat to witness. glebe had a understrnegth squad for Matchday 1 but showed why they are a class side managing to qualify for the finals despite under manned. For all those people who never see hockey at its best, this is one game not to miss.

New coach of Glebe, club legend Dean Benfield, posted the following comments:

"Although day 1 proved to be more problematic for us than anticipated, I was pleased with many aspects of the matches on day 1. Mid week injuries and a couple of last minute drop outs saw us going to Maitland a weaker side than I had hoped for not to mention a couple of players short. With some good ball movement around field, some tidy finishing skills in the D and a little help from some local talent who offered to make up the numbers for us, we managed a close win in the match against Norths. Maitland proved a stronger adversary than expected in the second match and although we had played some very sound passages of play and were holding on at the half time break, the physical toll of oppressive heat that morning coupled with the ravages of having a big night on the Saturday night saw some very capable and experienced players come unstuck. Even though the score blew out in the end, there were still some positives to be taken away from the game, like our passing game in the 1st half and there also some valuable lessons learned about valuing ball possession when fatigue sets in such as in the 2nd half.
This week we go to Newcastle in a far stronger position than the trip to Maitland with a few more of our experienced 1^st grade players. The whole squad trained well this and I am confident of a good result this week. So far this competition has proved to be an excellent pre-season preparation tool for us and it has given the players a much clearer understanding of where they are now and how much needs to be accomplished during this year."

Ryde submitted their thoughts:

"It was an interesting first day of the hunter cup which brought with it soaring temperatures and a mixture of very good hockey and not so. Our first game against wrests started out a very hard and fast game with the heat and the fact that west had already played a game in the heat and ryde was fresh the second half was going to be one sided west played to the end just as hard as they started which made it a good game all round.
Our second game we were up against south we were expecting a hard and fast game as our goalie Mick sneesby also plays for south and it started hard and caught our young guys sleeping with some very good attacking and defensive plays it took our young team not till second half to start playing the game our way this made the game a very good game in the end with south winning 3-2.
This Sunday we face traditional rivals Glebe, always a tough and competitive game. With both teams traversing with close to full squads it will be a very close game. Considering the standard of hockey last week any team will be hard to beat and the team that wins the hunter cup will have played a lot of good and hard hockey. At the end of the day hockey is the winner."

Dont miss this opportunity to witness some top level hockey, this early in the season. On the field with the players will be some of the best umpires from the Hunter, with International Stewart Dearing leading the way, being supported by Scott New, John Mayers, David Willott and Joshua Willott.

Hunterhockey.info wishes all teams, players and umpires the best on the day.