Maitland allege gay slur in Hunter Coast hockey semi-final loss to Wests

Maitland star Simon Orchard says his club will follow through this time on an alleged homophobic slur from Wests after their 5-2 minor semi-final loss to them on Sunday. Login or signup to continue reading The Rosellas booked their place in the men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League preliminary final against Gosford, but a scuffle late in the match and the accusation overshadowed the result. Two players from each side were sinbinned for the melee as tensions spilled over with a few minutes remaining at Newcastle International Hockey Centre.

Former Kookaburra Orchard said the slur was not the catalyst for the brawl but it was a repeat of an incident involving different players from the teams two months ago. Orchard said Maitland made Newcastle hockey association aware of the earlier slur and the club was encouraged to follow through, but they did not after an apology from the player. He said the club will make a complaint this time.



"He won't play again this year if we pursue it, which we will," said Orchard, who did not name the players. "The guy admitted to saying it and was sorry but it's unacceptable. There's no room for it in any sport at any level.

" The Newcastle Herald spoke to Wests captain Chris Boyle before talking to Orchard and tried to again after the accusation. As for the game, Orchard said Wests "were better than us and we just made key errors at the wrong times." Sam Mudford scored a hat-trick for the Rosellas, who led 3-1 when striking after the half-time whistle.

The Rams made it 3-2 at three-quarter time before Wests finished the stronger. Nic McEwen and Blake Hinton also scored for Wests. Norths beat Gosford 2-1 in the major semi at Wyong to make the grand final.

Kurt Walters and Josh Bruton scored for Norths, who led 2-1 at half-time. In the Newcastle women's premier league on Saturday, Gosford beat minor premiers Oxfords 3-1 to qualify for the decider. Oxfords will next meet Regals, who defeated Souths 4-2 in the minor semi-final.

Sarah Pasco bagged a double and Jessica Newman one goal for Gosford, who led 2-1 before scoring again late. It was just a second loss of the season for Oxfords. "It's always a tough game with them.

It's a good rivalry," Oxfords coach Thea O'Sullivan said. "We beat them 3-0 at Wyong a couple of weeks ago so they were fired up and we just didn't match it. "We didn't turn up to play finals hockey.

"We lost one of our best strikers in Tori Adamson about seven minutes in after she got hit on the nose and we lost any momentum from that point. "She was really dangerous in her play and we didn't really recover until the last quarter." Fiona Young was away for Oxfords, while Leah Capitao and keeper Jess Parr played through illness.

Christine Fernance debuted at 14 years old and set up Oxfords goal for Hannah Baxter. In the minor semi, Ellie Baldwin scored a brace for Regals, while Estelle Hughes and Alissa Leyland netted their other goals. Ebony Pointon scored Souths' goals.

Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald. Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.

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