RYAN Doherty has been called into the Chatham team as goal keeper for the Manning division one men's hockey grand final against Sharks tomorrow.
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The Wolves will be chasing a ninth consecutive premiership. However, they've had a disrupted preparation, with regular keeper Dominic Tagliapietra and Jayden Ryan both unavailable while Conor Smith is out with a broken thumb. Two other players, Adam Birkefeld (ankle) and Mat Doherty (hamstring) are battling injuries, but will take their places.
Representative goal keeper Eamon Smith has played in the field for Chatham this season. Under normal circumstances he would have moved back into the goal keeper's role.
However, Smith has commitments with Norths in the Hunter Coast Premier League grand final in Newcastle and this clashes with the Manning decider.
Chatham coach Frank Birkefeld had no hesitation in calling on Doherty. He's usually the division two keeper.
Doherty was also in goals for Taree High's side at the State Combined High School finals in Sydney this week.
"I've used Ryan a few times in A-grade this year and he'll handle the job,'' Birkefeld said.
"I have no worries about that.''
He added it's not all bad news for Wolves, with Luke Witchard returning after a two week absence.
Chatham qualified for the grand final through two close sudden death matches, beating Tigers in the minor semi and Tacking Point Thunder in the final. This is in contrast to most other seasons, when the Wolves finished minor premiers.
"We've been inconsistent this year,'' Birkefeld admitted.
"That's been caused by player availability. A lot of our blokes have young kids these days and they're not always available for hockey.
"We haven't been able to build the combinations like we have in other years.''
However, Birkefeld agreed that Chatham boast plenty of big match experience and this could be a valuable commodity tomorrow.
"That showed last week against Thunder,'' he pointed out.
"We were down 2-0 but there was no panic. We knew we had to keep working and that the opportunities would come.''
However, he added that the youthful Sharks will take a power of beating, describing them as a 'quality side.'
"I'd rate Fletcher Pearce from Sharks as the best player in division one in the last month,'' Birkefeld said.
"This should be a cracking game.''
