Tambellup hockey star Penny Squibb captains Perth Thundersticks to maiden Hockey One premiership

Tambellup-raised hockey star Penny Squibb has captained Perth Thundersticks women’s side to a Hockey One premiership during a dominant undefeated season. The Thundersticks absorbed defending premiers Brisbane Blaze’s swarming pressure and registered a 4-1 win in the decider at The Tasmanian Hockey Centre on Sunday. Squibb netted a penalty corner dagger late in the last quarter to put her side up by two goals before Hockeyroo Georgia Wilson kick-started the premiership celebrations three minutes later. Line Malan opened the scoring for the Thundersticks at the start of the second with an impressive goal before converting her stroke to take a 2-0 lead. Entrenched in the hysteria of post-match celebrations, Squibb credited her side for sticking to their game plan. “At half-time, we knew we had a half to go and Brisbane are a quality side but we stuck to our structures and our processes and the scoreboard showed that,” she said. “Brisbane applied pressure in our previous game so we knew it was coming and we did a a fair bit of work to make sure we stayed calm and composed. “The team is a quality group of humans, I’m pretty proud of the group and how we’ve all got together. “It’s a little family over in WA and I’m so proud of this group.” The Thundersticks booked the grand final berth after a come-from-behind victory over hosts Tassie Tigers on Saturday. They were trailing the Tigers 1-0 early in the semifinal before netting the next three goals to secure a spot in the decider.