www.murraypioneer.com.au Friday, April 28, 2017 SPORT 23 THE BEST AIR ANYWHERE THE BEST AIR ANYWHERE THE BEST AIR ANYWHERE NRTA#AU01465 THE BEST AIR ANYWHERE Old Sturt Highway, Berri | (08) 8582 1844 info.berri@devilees.com.au | devilees.com.au THE Riverland Hockey Association hosted two goalkeeping clinics at Glassey Park on Monday. The clinics were run by Hockey SA rep- resentative and South Australian Sports Institute goalkeeping coach Jaimie Holland. Holland ran separate two-hour clinics for senior and junior goalkeepers from across the Riverland. Laura Strout from the Riverland Hockey Association said it was “the first time in many years that we have had clinics like this and they were well-attended, with 12 local goalies attending the sessions.” “Dutchy (Jaimie Holland) also hosted a presentation after the session where he acknowledged the superb efforts of the Riverland in producing three Australian hockey representatives (Grant Schubert, Karri McMahon and Georgie Parker), with a new Kookaburras Riverland connection in Tom Wickham, who has recently been selected to play for Australia. “He also wanted to recognise the contri- butions of regional areas in supplying play- ers at state level, with a quoted 60 per cent of players in the state teams coming from regional areas.” The Riverland hockey season resumes this weekend, with Loxton and Waikerie to face off tonight at Glassey Park, while Renmark and Berri will clash at Glassey Park tomorrow afternoon. Getting hands-on at goalkeeping clinic Keen local hockey players who took part in the recent goalkeeping clinics, back (from left): Jaimie Holland, Oliver Coats, Zach Albrecht, Kobi Villis, Phil Wickham, James Hutchins, Juliet Mallinson and Wendy Holland. Front: Brianna Glekas, Nalani Milne, Allan Zahra, Corey Knoblauch and Amanda Schubert. PHOTO: supplied A HANDFUL of Riverlanders were involved with the 30th Australian Sikh Games that were held in Adelaide recently, with an estimated 40,000 people filling the Adelaide High School grounds over the three days. Over 1500 competitors from across Australia, along with New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore converged on Adelaide for the event. The weekend included sports such as soccer, netball, basketball, badminton, hockey and tennis. The most popular sport for spec- tators was Kabaddi, which is a physical contact sport that origi- nates from the Punjab region of India. Renmark local and owner of Malhi Mini Supermarket, Balkar Singh-Malhi was in the thick of the action catering for the event and said it was a great success. “To see so many people from not just across Australia, but the world was really inspiring,” he said. Malhi was grateful to have four prominent committee members from the Riverland Sikh communi- ty, Mohan Singh Nagra (president), Rupinder Singh Sandhu (vice president), Pardip Singh Pangly (treasurer) and Gurshminder Singh (Mintu Brar) (secretary), all at the Adelaide event. “Every year the event just keeps getting bigger and bigger and it is great to be a part of it all with the organising and catering,” he said. Malhi said he was grateful for the generosity and support from his produce suppliers to help him cater for such a large crowd. “Companies like Charlies, Farmers Union, Coke, Parsram and Usha Imports continue to be there for us whenever we do events like this,” he said. Malhi said the event was impor- tant to help continue to bring com- munities together. “Many lifelong friends are made and the games help promote sport and a healthy lifestyle in our com- munities,” he said. The event was attended by sev- eral high-profile politicians includ- ing Governor General of South Australia Hieu Van Le, Russell Wortley MLC, Member for Torrens Dana Wortley and Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Martin Haese. Riverland flavour at 30th Sikh Games in Adelaide Some of the dignitaries at the Sikh Games, Balkar Singh-Malhi (left), Amrik Singh Thandi, Lord Mayor of Adelaide City Council Martin Haese, Ravinder Singh, Manjit Kaur, Balwant Singh, Russell Wortley MLC, Member of Torrance Dana Wortley, Maninderbir Singh, Monika Kumar, Member for Unley David Pisoni, Genevieve T Haese, Mintu Brar, Mark Basham and Harwinder Singh Garcha. PHOTO: supplied Action packed night at Sunline Speedway LAST Saturday night saw 20 drivers from across four states, including three state and one national title holder, contest the AMCA Nationals South Australian Title at Sunline Speedway, Waikerie. Drivers faced three rounds of heats through the night in tough conditions, before battling for the title over 30 laps. Tasmania’s Daniel Brooks and South Australian Jeremy Moore had taken two heat wins each and finished the heats tied on points, and therefore started the title race from the front row. On lap two, Brooks had an engine let go when in second, while two laps later Moore also experienced mechanical issues and retired from the lead. Nine cars in total retired from the race, four of which started from within the top six. Victorian state champion Jamie Collins kept out of trou- ble and was able to take out the title, and add the South Australian #1 to his car. Superdogs suffer dissapointing defeat THE Riverland Superdogs suffered a tough 52-point loss to Woodville South in Adelaide last Sunday. Anzac Day was commemorated by the playing of the Last Post, with both teams forming a circle and spending a moment reflecting on the bravery of the soldiers from the past and present. From the first bounce the Superdogs got pushed aside by the clean touch from the opposition mid- field and in no time at all they had a couple of goals. The Superdogs slowly started to get their hands on the ball, only to have it turned over across half for- ward by a well-organised Woodville South defence which was headed by South Australian football icon Wayne Weidemann. The Superdogs trailed by 28 points at quarter time and the second quarter followed in the same vein. Despite Darren Kennedy doing all he could in the ruck, the Superdogs’ lack of a bench started to affect their ball movement. By half time the Superdogs trailed by 54 points. Rob Romeo continued to hold down the Superdogs defence in the third quarter, while also providing run off the half-back line. Despite the Superdogs’ best efforts, the margin was extended to 59 points at the final break. All was not lost as the ball was starting to move out of the stoppages in the final quarter and Doc Clifford was showing his value with sure hands and clean disposal. A supergoal to Nathan Willmott, and goals to Dave Gregoric and Paul Modra helped reduce the final mar- gin to 52 points behind as the siren sounded. Woodville South 14.17 (101) d Superdogs 1.6.4 (49). Best players: Dave Gregoric, Darren Kennedy, Dino Romeo, Shaun Kempster, Dave Pankhurst, Nathan Willmott. Goal kickers: Nathan Willmott 1 supergoal and 3 goals; Joe Butson, Dave Gregoric, Paul Modra.