It will be a nervous wait for Matt Willis and his Perth Thundersticks side with their Hockey One League finals fate out of their hands after falling to the Canberra Chill 4-2 in front of a franchise record crowd in Canberra on Friday night.
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The Thundersticks have the bye in the final round but have the NSW Pride and Tassie Tigers hot on their heels and looking to leapfrog them with final round wins.
Willis gave Perth the perfect start knocking into an empty net after great baseline skills from teammate Tim Geers to open the scoring in just the third minute.
After Charter stalked Willis until time expired, the Chill struck back with an exquisite low penalty corner flick in the seventh minute and from there they outworked the Thundersticks and were sharp in front of goal.
Earlier in the round, Alice Arnott had an immediate impact for the Pride women as they kept their finals hopes alive with a five goal shut out of the Tassie Tigers in Hobart.
Playing her first game of this year's competition, the former Tamworth player was one of the Pride's four goal-scorers in their 5-nil triumph on Friday night.
It was a mixed bag for the Pride with the men's side featuring Tamworth's Ehren Hazell and Armidale's Nathan Czinner edged out by the Tigers 2-1.
In the women's match, it was a slick all-round performance from the Pride.
Led by defensive midfielder Grace Young and Hockeyroos star Mariah Williams, they produced the sort of dominant performance that will make their opponents sit up and take notice.
Abby Wilson gave them the lead in the 22nd minute when her low penalty corner flick evaded everyone.
Three minutes later, Makayla Jones had a brilliant effort denied by the Tasmanian keeper, only for Arnott to knock home and double their advantage with a full stretched dive. She was, however, unsuccessful with the conversion as they took a 2-nil lead into half-time.
Another two goals, the second of which was converted, in three minutes in the second half saw the Pride pull away for a commanding win.
Hazell then had the opening shot of the men's match but was unable to find the net.
The Pride were then starved of opportunities as Tigers defenders Tim Deavin and Jeremy Edwards stamped their authority, and returning Kookaburras star Jeremy Hayward put them ahead with a tracer-bullet flick high into the net in the 11th minute.
Approaching half-time, the Tigers doubled their advantage when Jack Welch converted their fifth set piece of the half.
The Pride responded and went up a gear in the second half, and were rewarded when Ky Willott scored in the 37th minute to make it 2-1.
But despite some good opportunities, with Tigers goalkeeper Henry Chambers forced into a remarkable double save and another huge stretch with his right foot, they were unable to bridge the gap as they suffered their second straight loss.
It saw them remain in third with one round remaining. That will be played against the Canberra Chill in Parkes next Saturday (November 12).
The women meanwhile jumped to second with the win, with the Chill and Perth Thundersticks still to play in Round 5.
Czinner was returning to the men's side after helping the Australian under-21s win silver at the Sultan of Johor Cup.
The selection honours have been coming thick and fast for the gun. This week he was named in the NSW under-21s State team and open men's Blues team for next year's indoor nationals in Brisbane.
Jake and Tyler McCann were also selected in the under-21s State team, and Jake McCann and Ben Hanlan the Blues open men while Rohan Lawrence and Ryan Oschaldeus made the under-21s Blues team.
Former Tamworth rep Brandan Horner was meanwhile named in the men's State team.
