# 2008 Women's Australian Hockey League

The 2008 Women's Australian Hockey League was the 16th edition women's field hockey tournament. The tournament was held between 24 March – 5 April 2008.
WA Diamonds won the tournament for the fifth time after defeating QLD Scorchers 2–0 in the final. Canberra Strikers finished in third place after defeating NSW Arrows 2–0 in the third and fourth place playoff.

## Participating teams

* Canberra Strikers
* NSW Arrows
* NT Pearls
* QLD Scorchers
* Southern Suns
* Tassie Van Demons
* VIC Vipers
* WA Diamonds

## Competition format

The 2008 Women's Australian Hockey League consisted of a single round robin format, followed by classification matches.
Teams from all 8 states and territories competed against one another throughout the pool stage. At the conclusion of the pool stage, the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi-finals, while the bottom four teams continued to the classification stage.

### Point Allocation

All matches had an outright result, meaning drawn matches were decided in either golden goal extra time, or a penalty shoot-out. Match points were as follows:
· 3 points for a win · 1 points to each team in the event of a draw · 1 point will be awarded to the winner of the shoot-out · 0 points to the loser of the match

## Results
### Preliminary round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | WD | LD | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | WA Diamonds | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 18 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | QLD Scorchers | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 18 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | NSW Arrows | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 18 | Semi-finals |
| 4 | Canberra Strikers | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 11 | Semi-finals |
| 5 | VIC Vipers | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 9 | |
| 6 | Southern Suns | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 24 | −16 | 7 | |
| 7 | NT Pearls | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 3 | |
| 8 | Tassie Van Demons | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 20 | −15 | 0 | |

#### Pool matches

* 25 March 2008 12:00
| Canberra Strikers | 3–1 | Tassie Van Demons |
| Harrison 14' Allen 33' Young 59' | Report | Blake 55' |
* Umpires: Melissa Trivic (AUS) Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS)
* 25 March 2008 14:00
| Southern Suns | 0–5 | QLD Scorchers |
| | Report | Bennett 7' Lambert 27', 53' Faulkner 45' Beattie 58' |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Catherine Mok (AUS)
* 25 March 2008 16:00
| VIC Vipers | 5–3 | NT Pearls |
| Van Veenendaal 6' O'Conner 20', 46' Trost 36' Merrett 39' | Report | Mountain 9', 47' Gale 53' |
* Umpires: Aleeta Micallef (AUS) Deborah Rollason (AUS)
* 25 March 2008 18:00
| WA Diamonds | 0–1 | NSW Arrows |
| | Report | Hollywood 38' |
* Umpires: Minka Woolley (AUS) Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS)
* 26 March 2008 12:00
| Southern Suns | 2–6 | Canberra Strikers |
| Swann 44' Sharland 65' | Report | Taylor 15', 46' Allen 43', 59' Forgesson 58', 60' |
* Umpires: Aleeta Micallef (AUS) Deborah Rollason (AUS)
* 26 March 2008 14:00
| NT Pearls | 1–6 | WA Diamonds |
| Young 62' | Report | Liddelow 5' Buckley 31', 66' Ciallella 35' Halliday 43', 45' |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Catherine Mok (AUS)
* 26 March 2008 16:00
| Tassie Van Demons | 1–5 | VIC Vipers |
| Wilson 30' | Report | Messent 7', 67', 70' Merrett 53' Van Veenendaal 61' |
* Umpires: Leah Giddey (AUS) Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS)
* 26 March 2008 18:00
| NSW Arrows | 0–1 | QLD Scorchers |
| | Report | M. Hudson 23' |
* Umpires: Melissa Trivic (AUS) Lisa Roach (AUS)
* 27 March 2008 12:00
| QLD Scorchers | 4–0 | NT Pearls |
| Faulkner 16', 31', 68' Lambert 23' | Report | |
* Umpires: Melissa Trivic (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)
* 27 March 2008 14:00
| Southern Suns | 0–4 | WA Diamonds |
| | Report | Ciallella 6' Liddelow 12' Halliday 27' Walker 61' |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS)
* 27 March 2008 16:00
| Tassie Van Demons | 1–2 | NSW Arrows |
| Cooling 49' | Report | Barber 58' Hurtz 63' |
* Umpires: Catherine Mok (AUS) Aleeta Micallef (AUS)
* 27 March 2008 18:00
| Canberra Strikers | 2–2 | VIC Vipers |
| Allen 12' Young 67' | Report | Trahar 44' Trost 47' |
| Penalties |||
| Harrison Allen Young Forgesson Arrold | 4–3 | Messent Trost Joseph Chau O'Conner |
* Umpires: Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS) Minka Woolley (AUS)
* 29 March 2008 12:00
| VIC Vipers | 0–1 | WA Diamonds |
| | Report | Smithson 11' |
* Umpires: Minka Woolley (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)
* 29 March 2008 14:00
| NSW Arrows | 6–1 | Southern Suns |
| Rivers 3' James 6' Hurtz 10' Hollywood 12' Barber 28' Sanders 31' | Report | Lange 43' |
* Umpires: Aleeta Micallef (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)
* 29 March 2008 16:00
| QLD Scorchers | 4–2 | Canberra Strikers |
| Blyth 8' Richards 25' N. Hudson 44', 54' | Report | Forgesson 42' Lucas 60' |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS)
* 29 March 2008 18:00
| Tassie Van Demons | 1–5 | NT Pearls |
| Jones 23' | Report | Ono 13' Mountain 33' Chiu 38' Gale 53' Clarke 62' |
* Umpires: Deborah Rollason (AUS) Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS)
* 30 March 2008 12:00
| NSW Arrows | 4–3 | VIC Vipers |
| Cocking 18' Hollywood 21', 38' Hurtz 66' | Report | Messent 29' Merrett 43' Riordan 52' |
* Umpires: Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS) Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS)
* 30 March 2008 14:00
| NT Pearls | 3–4 | Canberra Strikers |
| Pericles 2' Ono 45', 70+' | Report | Young 12' Taylor 23' Harrison 50' Allen 65' |
* Umpires: Catherine Mok (AUS) Aleeta Micallef (AUS)
* 30 March 2008 16:00
| WA Diamonds | 2–1 | QLD Scorchers |
| Halliday 13' Munro 15' | Report | Beattie 29' |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Minka Woolley (AUS)
* 30 March 2008 18:00
| Tassie Van Demons | 0–1 | Southern Suns |
| | Report | Saunders 20' |
* Umpires: Deborah Rollason (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)
* 1 April 2008 12:00
| VIC Vipers | 0–4 | QLD Scorchers |
| | Report | Faulkner 19', 37' Eiser 45' Attard 56' |
* Umpires: Aleeta Micallef (AUS) Catherine Mok (AUS)
* 1 April 2008 14:00
| NSW Arrows | 5–1 | Canberra Strikers |
| Hollywood 3', 8' James 22' Hamahona 38' Rivers 44' | Report | Harrison 40' |
* Umpires: Deborah Rollason (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)
* 1 April 2008 16:00
| NT Pearls | 1–3 | Southern Suns |
| Ono 63' | Report | Sharland 11', 44' Hampton 13' |
* Umpires: Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS) Lisa Roach (AUS)
* 1 April 2008 18:00
| WA Diamonds | 2–1 | Tassie Van Demons |
| Munro 17' Smithson 66' | Report | Douglas 37' |
* Umpires: Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)
* 2 April 2008 12:00
| NT Pearls | 1–3 | NSW Arrows |
| Ono 51' | Report | Hurtz 11' Eastham 13' Rivers 16' |
* Umpires: Catherine Mok (AUS) Deborah Rollason (AUS)
* 2 April 2008 14:00
| QLD Scorchers | 2–0 | Tassie Van Demons |
| N. Hudson 14' Reuter 65' | Report | |
* Umpires: Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)
* 2 April 2008 16:00
| Southern Suns | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | VIC Vipers |
| Sharland 58' | Report | Riordan 23' Messent 82' |
* Umpires: Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)
* 2 April 2008 18:00
| WA Diamonds | 6–0 | Canberra Strikers |
| Smithson 9', 16', 65' Pamenter 32' Munro 63' Liddelow 70' | Report | |
* Umpires: Aleeta Micallef (AUS) Minka Woolley (AUS)

### Classification round
#### Fifth to eighth place classification

| Crossover | Crossover | Fifth place | Fifth place |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 |
| VIC Vipers | 0 |
| VIC Vipers | 0 | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| Tassie Van Demons (a.e.t) | 1 | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| Tassie Van Demons (a.e.t) | 1 | Tassie Van Demons | 0 |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 | | Tassie Van Demons | 0 |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 | Southern Suns | 1 |
| Southern Suns (a.e.t) | 2 | Southern Suns | 1 |
| NT Pearls | 1 | | |
| NT Pearls | 1 | Seventh Place | Seventh Place |
| | | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| | | VIC Vipers | 2 |
| | | NT Pearls | 0 |

##### Crossover

* 4 April 2008 12:00
| VIC Vipers | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | Tassie Van Demons |
| | Report | Jones 73' |
* Umpires: Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)
* 4 April 2008 14:00
| Southern Suns | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | NT Pearls |
| Sharland 18', 81' | Report | Ono 44' |
* Umpires: Catherine Mok (AUS) Deborah Rollason (AUS)

##### Seventh and eighth place

* 5 April 2008 10:00
| VIC Vipers | 2–0 | NT Pearls |
| Van Veenendaal 18', 28' | Report | |
* Umpires: Kim Kuk-Hee (AUS) Deborah Rollason (AUS)

##### Fifth and sixth place

* 5 April 2008 12:00
| Tassie Van Demons | 0–1 | Southern Suns |
| | Report | Stacy 58' |
* Umpires: Catherine Mok (AUS) Leah Giddey (AUS)

#### First to fourth place classification

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 |
| WA Diamonds (a.e.t) | 4 |
| WA Diamonds (a.e.t) | 4 | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| Canberra Strikers | 3 | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| Canberra Strikers | 3 | WA Diamonds | 2 |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 | | WA Diamonds | 2 |
| 4 April 2008 | 4 April 2008 | QLD Scorchers | 0 |
| QLD Scorchers (a.e.t) | 1 | QLD Scorchers | 0 |
| NSW Arrows | 0 | | |
| NSW Arrows | 0 | Third and Fourth Place | Third and Fourth Place |
| | | 5 April 2008 | 5 April 2008 |
| | | Canberra Strikers | 2 |
| | | NSW Arrows | 0 |

##### Semi-finals

* 4 April 2008 16:00
| WA Diamonds | 4–3 (a.e.t.) | Canberra Strikers |
| Pamenter 9' Halliday 12' Smithson 64', 73' | Report | Desmet 15' Allen 18' Young 45' |
* Umpires: Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS) Aleeta Micallef (AUS)
* 4 April 2008 18:00
| QLD Scorchers | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | NSW Arrows |
| N. Hudson 82' | Report | |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)

##### Third and fourth place

* 5 April 2008 14:00
| Canberra Strikers | 2–0 | NSW Arrows |
| Arrold 20' Stewart 34' | Report | |
* Umpires: Lynn Cowie-McAlister (AUS) Aleeta Micallef (AUS)

##### Final

* 5 April 2008 16:00
| WA Diamonds | 2–0 | QLD Scorchers |
| Munro 50' Halliday 65' | Report | |
* Umpires: Lisa Roach (AUS) Melissa Trivic (AUS)

## Awards

| Player of the Tournament | Top Goalscorer | Player of the Final |
| Madonna Blyth | Sian Smithson | Kobie McGurk |

## Statistics
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | WD | LD | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| | WA Diamonds | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 7 | +20 | 23 | Gold Medal |
| | QLD Scorchers | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 20 | Silver Medal |
| | Canberra Strikers | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 15 | Bronze Medal |
| 4 | NSW Arrows | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 19 | |
| 5 | Southern Suns | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 25 | −14 | 12 | |
| 6 | Tassie Van Demons | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 2 | |
| 7 | VIC Vipers | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 13 | |
| 8 | NT Pearls | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 4 | |

### Goalscorers

There were 144 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 4 goals per match.
7 goals
* Sian Smithson
6 goals
* Renee Allen
* Kate Hollywood
* Mayumi Ono
* Suzanne Faulkner
* Kayla Sharland
* Emily Halliday
5 goals
* Claire Messent
4 goals
* Sarah Young
* Emily Hurtz
* Nicole Hudson
* Mariet van Veenendaal
* Hope Munro
3 goals
* Krystal Forgesson
* Charlotte Harrison
* Emma Taylor
* Megan Rivers
* Barbara Mountain
* Angela Lambert
* Leah Merrett
* Shelly Liddelow
2 goals
* Ebony Barber
* Kellie-Lee James
* Samantha Gale
* Wendy Beattie
* Jacqueline Jones
* Sarah O'Conner
* Renee Trost
* Stephanie Riordan
* Jemma Buckley
* Chantelle Ciallella
* Lisa Pamenter
1 goal
* Nicole Arrold
* Karina Lucas
* Toni Stewart
* Laura Desmet
* Kasey Cocking
* Casey Eastham
* Piki Hamahona
* Rebecca Sanders
* Olivia Chiu
* Aimee Clarke
* Caroline Pericles
* Fiona Young
* Teneal Attard
* Jane Bennett
* Madonna Blyth
* Prue Eiser
* Marnie Hudson
* Rebecca Reuter
* Lauren Richards
* Rachel Hampton
* Sarah Lange
* Kate Saunders
* Elise Stacy
* Amy Swann
* Jessica Blake
* Michelle Cooling
* Abby Douglas
* Jessica Blake
* Erica Trahar
* Kimberly Walker
Source: Clearing House