TACKING Point Thunder Bluetongues got the better of Port City in the first local derby of the hockey season on Saturday.
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Thunder won 6-3 at Port Macquarie Hockey Complex as late-match fitness and the loss of Simon Thresher hampered City.
City already had four players missing for the match, but welcomed back Chris Woolner up front.
Woolner and company kept with Thunder until two-thirds time, when the youth of the Tongues took over and the side powered to victory.
Thunder captain Derek Armberger wasn't reading too much into his team's victory. He said the close fight was an indication of how tight the competition would be this season.
"It's a pretty even competition," Armberger said.
Thresher is under an injury cloud ahead of the next match, after copping a ball to the knee in Saturday's encounter.
He was disappointed with that but said there were some promising signs for his team.
"We kept possession better than last week," he said.
City got revenge over Thunder in women's A grade action on Sunday, with a 6-1 thumping.
Thresher was thrilled to pick up the points against a strong Thunder outfit.
"The Thunder girls are young, fit and many of them have represented at state level," he said.
City's strikers played a high line, forcing Thunder's defenders to choose between defence and counter attack.
The Thunder girls chose defence and left plenty of room in the middle of the park for the City midfielders.
Chloe Stewart's goal was City's sixth and the highlight of the match. Stewart capped off a superb solo effort with a strike into the top right corner of Thunder's net.
Jennifer Ho was the best on ground for City in the midfield.
Thresher was pleased with the team's performance.
"Most of our goals were from set structure," he said. "And congratulations to 14-year-old Annie Bligh-Jones for making her A grade debut."