Hockey: Match abandoned after Maitland player struck in the head

Magann was knocked out and split open when hit in the back of the head by the ball, causing play to be halted for more than 30 minutes in the wait for an ambulance.

Rams captain Matt Magann, Tom's cousin, said the teams agreed to call the round 12 match at Maitland off early and declare a 0-0 result. He said the ball hit Tom off a reckless strike from a Souths player following a whistle to stop play.

He said Tom regained consciousness but had a nasty cut that needed treatment.

Fourth-placed Maitland (11 points) remained ahead of Souths (10).

In other games, top-two sides Gosford and Norths prevailed 2-1 at Newcastle.

Norths (14) led third-placed Wests (11) 2-0 after 30 minutes with goals from Orlando Travis and Rory Walker. Sam Mudford struck at a penalty corner in the 48^th to give Wests hope.

Last-placed Tigers (1) pushed leaders Gosford (19) all the way. Mick Taylor scored in the 32^nd and 45^th minutes for Gosford. Nic O'Connor got one back in the 47^th for Tigers.

In the Newcastle women's premier league on Saturday, Oxfords responded to a three-quarter time rev-up from coach Thea O'Sullivan to score late and edge out Uni 2-1, keeping their premiership defence perfect. In the other games, Tigers and Norah Head drew 1-1 and Gosford beat Souths 3-0.

Oxfords, now with seven wins to start the year (21 points), were down early before equalising through Niamh Dixon off a corner in the second quarter. Uni, who dropped to fifth on 10 points held firm until Sylvia Knott slotted a penalty stroke midway through the last quarter after the ball struck a foot on the line.

"We were quite flat, even though we dominated possession for most of the game, but their defence held us out," O'Sullivan said.

"At three-quarter-time I gave them a bit of a rev-up and they came out with a lot more intensity.

"I knew Uni would put up a good fight and it was a good game. It was just really frustrating we couldn't convert the opportunities we had, but Uni kept working hard and had a good defensive structure set up."