Match Reports August 1 & 2

Match reports from the last round of home and away matches not only tell us about the great performances put on by our teams but also the fantastic support which our players get from their parents and family.  It was very pleasing to see a number of grandparents present for the last day of the Under 6, 8 and 11 matches.

Congratulations to the Newtown Strikers team who won the 2015 Premiership in the Under 11 Division, with 9 wins and 1 draw from 11 matches – a fantastic effort. The standard of play shown by all the Under 11 teams throughout the season was excellent. Newtown Spirit finished in fourth position and Newtown Rebels in fifth. Well done to all the players, many of whom are moving up to Under 13 next year and will be keen to take on this new challenge.

U11 Newtown Strikers Premiers

Midweek Junior

Another great game this week by the players at the Midweek Junior program.  Welcome to Lucy, who showed great determination and good teamwork and passing in her first game.  Team Blue showed great ball control skills and attacked strongly early in the game, with Archie and Rory both defending well and cutting off Orange attempts to move forward. Great interceptions and strong passes by Tejai and good positioning in space ahead of the ball by Hayden and Riley allowed Team Blue to score. In the second half, the improving teamwork and passing showed for Team Orange with some great 1-2 passing and back passes, with Seb, Gil and Kenna all looking for players in space and moving to receive the ball back again.  Good running by Sam and quick passing created opportunities to move into attack, resulting in scoring success.

Under 8

Newtown Spirit v Newtown Rebels

Newtown Spirit finished the Under 8 season in fine form after a strong encounter against stablemate Newtown Rebels at King Lloyd Reserve on Saturday. The team took to the field with a game plan to pass out wide and open up the field and raced into attack with enthusiasm. And they showed how much their team play has improved over the past 12 rounds. Left wing Max, who has had a boomer of a first season, was on fire, intercepting the ball and directing it goalwards. His persistence eventually paid off with a goal. Charlie, at left half, directed a beautiful ball through a space created by Nate, finding a vocal Ruben wide at right wing. Ruben trapped the ball and moved forward into attack. But the tireless Rebels never stopped fighting, shutting down many Spirit advances and pushing into attack themselves. That didn’t stop Spirit from applying pressure. While teammates crowded each other at times, triggering scrappy play and hindering their own chances, they never quit trying and managed to produce some great moments.

Highlights included centre half Meyah teaming well with Charlie on several occasions to drive the ball forward while Nate created chances with a fast break up the field, with Ruben running with him at wing in support. It was also great to see sisters Meyah and Avah working together to keep the Rebels from goal. At one stage goalie Avah stopped a strong shot, swiftly tapped it to nearby Meyah who cleared it cleanly to the side of the field. It was calm, quick and clever work under pressure. Cate, who volunteered to lift numbers for Rebels, was proving handy for Spirit’s opposition near the goals, calling loudly and getting into the attacking action.

At half time Coach Kellie kept to her season’s strong message, telling her team to stay in their positions. After the break, the team worked hard to put their coach’s directions into action. Right wing Phoebe stayed wide and, with Meyah, created a lovely passage of play to force the ball forward. A few minutes later Max showed how far his skills have progressed, stopping the ball cleanly with a reverse stick, before laying it off to a teammate. In another case of great teamwork, second-half goalie Charlie stopped a strong Rebels shot on goal, passed the ball off to right half Max, who directed it cleanly to Avah and she, in turn, pushed it to Meyah who carried it forward into attack. It was really good to see the players creating solid linked play.

When the final whistle blew, it brought an end to a game played in friendship and determination by both teams and signalled the close of under-8 competition for the year.

Newtown Strikers vs Torquay 3

 The last round of the season saw an exciting and well matched game for the Minkey Strikers. Torquay had extra players so lent our team a player to even the odds. If the players seems to crowd together at times it’s important to remember that there were rather a lot of them on the filed. Chris covered lots of territory up and down the wing, his confidence has increased so much during the year – all the best in under 11’s next winter. In many ways it was the most exciting game of the year for Emma, and for next year we can practice a big hockey calling voice, because she gets into such great position for her teammates. Eliza and Alex came up with some great passing moves together, you are a clever pair. We saw new turning skills learned at training from Jakai, it was fun to watch, and all he needs to add is some speed as he escapes with the ball.  Amy always looked to pass the ball to other players and never give up. The last didn’t give us any handstands from Amelia, but she never gave up and kept trying. Best Team Player Award went to Daniel – for showing massive improvement over the course of his first year playing hockey – he maintained his position well and was strong and determined in defense. Well done to you all for a great season.

Under 11

Newtown Strikers v Newtown Rebels 4-1

Wonderful final game from the Strikers to finish the season.  Great running forward and through the middle, as always, and very solid defence (with Nathan as goalie doing a superb job keeping out several shots on goal). Two goals each to Harry and Olivia.  Congratulations to Amity, Brandon and Olivia for sharing the best team player awards.  And congratulations to the team for finishing as U11 Premiers this year – a wonderful effort.  There was great effort from game one with noticeable improvement throughout the season – terrific skills development and always wonderful effort and teamwork from everyone on the field.  Well done Strikers.  Congratulations to Harry for receiving the Best Team Player Award for the season and to Imogen for receiving the Most Improved Player Award.  Special thanks to Claire and Darren for their coaching efforts this season and to Gordon for umpiring.  Hope to see everyone again next season!

Newtown Rebels vs Newtown Strikers 1-4

Being our last game for the season the Rebels did have a lot of energy at the start of this game, with their ever charging skills in passing & keeping ball possession. It certainly had lots of parents in anxious mode watching this match. The centre & forward line comprising Flynn, Harry, Locke and Basyl pretty much dominated the first part of the game in their typical style and were unlucky to miss out on a few goal scoring chances until Taylah got a perfect pass from Locke to score our lone goal to level the scores in the first half. Basyl then had a good run starting from our half, going wide on the right and then cutting back in to give a perfect pass in the circle only to miss everyone’s stick right in front of the goal – we lost a perfect opportunity to take the lead at that point to put pressure on strong Strikers line up. Once again Zeke did a fantastic job as goal keeper to deny our opposition but Strikers were able to gain the advantage just before the end of first half.

Both Bailey and Luca proved their worth as full backs against a very strong forward line. Declan was great in performing his ever growing skills and created a few chances only to be denied by the strong defence of the Strikers. Not to mention our wonderful girls – Clare, Kiah, Zoe and Taylah doing their magic with lots of fantastic dribbling and passing to create opportunities.  It was unfortunate that Charlotte was unwell and not able to play and the team missed her.

 The second half of the game was a tough one where we had a few lapses in concentration that let the game slip away with Strikers scoring two more goals, but our strong determination was evident throughout. In the end, Strikers won by 4-1 but the Rebels team still held their heads high, fighting till the very end and making our strong opponents work hard for the ball. Best Team Player Awards went to Zoe for her skills in the centre line well-supporting the forward line; and Bailey for his great efforts in the defence to deny Strikers forwards the time to take clean shots at the goal.

Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 1-0

It was hard to believe that this was the last game of the season! Everyone was very excited and ready to go and hopefully end the season on a high note. We were missing our goalie, Ely so Xander put his hand up and the gear on to put himself in a position that really challenged him. He did a fantastic job indeed so a big thank you to him.

For the 3rd week in a row Spirit played a fantastic game. Positions were played well and there was lots of looking for the good option. The first half saw the ball well forward for us and many players were involved in pressuring Golden Plains. We were very unlucky not to score during these passages of play.

The second half played out much the same as the first with everyone adapting to position changes well and continuing to search for options (although not always out wide!). A goal in the second half through Tom saw the Spirit end the season with a well deserved win.

Congratulations to the entire team for a great season. Everyone developed their skills enormously and our new players certainly have come a long way. Good luck to those players moving up to the under 13’s and we will see the rest of you back next season.

 

Under 13

There were no games this week for the U13 teams but many of our players participated in the Geelong U13 Carnival, playing for Hockey Geelong teams – Geelong Teal and Teal Black.

Congratulations to the Geelong Teal team who were the winners of the Carnival, and Geelong Black finishing in fourth position.

  • Geelong Teal – Declan Brown, Tom Charleson, Amelia Charleson, Kasey Hamill-Dean, Will Jennings and Miles Reilley, and Coach Adam Reilley, team manager Deb Reilley.
  • Geelong Black – Harry Bradbury, Olivia Chadwick, Olivia Clarke, Miles Rau, Max Hyde and Jamie Van der Ploeg, and team manager Julie Clarke.

Under 15

Newtown Spirit vs Geelong 3-1

Newtown Spirit played and won it’s last home and away game on Saturday in a thrilling contest against Geelong. The Spirit took to the field one player down and used a 3:3:3 field set up. Making great use of their wings and switching the play ensured the they kept the opposition off balance resulting in a solid 3:1 victory.

 A stand out play in the second half involved Luka in goals, Cassidy, Calum and Oliver in defence. As a defensive group, they held off a string of 6 concerted attacks on top of one another, keeping all of them out, and Geelong scoreless in the 2nd half. Finals loom and the the team are looking forward to the up coming contest.

Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 7-0

Great game last weekend for the Strikers! Legendary even with a big win by 7 over College. Concentrating on the match this week, lets hope Marcus’s winning coaching (with David’s excellent assistance) harnesses the power of the Strikers to win us the pass straight to the grandfinal. In expecting a very tight match, Id like to thank the team for the good sportsmanship they display weekly, and remind everyone that team is not spelled with an “I”. It is always about everyone contributing their best to their team and to the game. Good Luck to both Newtown sides (but especially us!!)

Under 17

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Lightning 12-0

After last week’s loss to Saints, the U/17 Strikers wanted to redeem themselves this week.  It was great team play to watch, with plenty of short and precise passing coupled with good defensive work.  Sean was leaving at half time, so he was keen to get a few goals on the board before he left and scored 3 by half time.  Dan also had a field day in front of goals scoring 5.  It was very encouraging to see good defensive work and the forwards making leads which we discussed about following the previous week’s loss.  It was great to have a confidence boost before the finals and hopefully we’ll carry this through to our match against the Saints in the first week of the finals.

Division 1 Men

Newtown Falcons vs Saints Red 4-0

 A very windy day greeted both undermanned teams with Falcons having 10 and Saints Red with 9…a slow game ensued with Falcons holding most of the possession and territory. With only a handful of entries into the Falcons defence, Saints did not look too threatening. A plethora of attacks from the Falcons should have put more goals past the Saints GK, but to his credit, he played a very impressive game and kept us to only 4 goals.
Goals scored by Carl  (2) James J (1) and Luke P (1)

Division 1 Women

Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 5-3

 The game was very even, and in the first half it was goal for goal.  Our girls played very well, working hard in both attack and defence. The score was 3 all at half time.  The second half started the same, we received a short corner late in the second half and to our girls credit the pass came out to Courtney and she passed it to Katey and in turn she passed it back to Courtney and it then went in for a goal. Well done for a great team effort.  Goals scored by Courtney 4 and Shannon 1. Thanks to Courtney and Jess W for filling in after playing their game in such wet conditions and to Shannon and Emma for soldiering on after filling in for the Strikers and playing in poor conditions as well.

Newtown Strikers v Geelong 1-5

A tough game to finish the season in very hostile conditions (wind and rain were something else Sunday afternoon!)   It was great to have Courtney back to coach for the last game in the season and she provided great skill and encouragement from the backline with various forays up forward. Great work up back also from Sam, Kate and Jess back, with Jen keeping out plenty in the goals.  Terrific run through the middle from Kelly and Peta out wide from Marion, Bec and Amanda. Thanks very much to Emma and Shannon for doubling up in such horrible conditions and providing plenty of extra run and skill on the field.  Thanks to everyone for the season – it was a tough season for the Strikers, but we had a few moments of glory throughout.  Looking forward to 2016.

Division 2 Men

Newtown Strikers vs Geelong Blue 1-3

In what was a disappointing game, it will hopefully act as a wake-up call for the standard that we will be up against in the finals and some areas that we will have to improve upon at training.  The biggest problem is still the first half, we actually won the second half but by then the damage was done as Geelong were already 3 goals up.  Chances are that we’ll be up against Geelong again next week in the finals so it will be a good chance for a rematch and see if we have learned anything from this encounter.

Newtown Spirit vs Geelong White 3-2

 

Division 2 Women

Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 2-10

A strong show from Golden Plains with fast play through the centre and well placed forwards saw many goals. Despite this, Spirit played hard with one player down. Excellent defence from Jan and Andy with solid clearances, well supported by halves Jacinta, Nicola and Pam. Calling the shots from goals, Claire saved many attempts. The depleted forward line saw many bursts through Golden Plains’ defence. Donna and Deb were well located on the wings to keep play wide with Kirsty moving through the centre well. Erin Ward was the legs of the team, making many breaks through.

A huge thank you to Claire and Erin for doubling up. A big Happy Birthday to Edna. Her husband Boris is proud to be married to a 70 year old hockey player! And finally a great season from the Spirit aka Maroons. Well done girls.

 Newtown Rebels vs Geelong 1-5

A hard game to finish with against dominant ladder leaders Geelong, but Newtown Rebels did not let that deter them.  Excellent teamwork and co-operation again on the left by Chloe and Erin S and with Erin W running well on the right, we were able to move the play into attack for Newtown. A tendency to cross the ball to the centre suited Geelong’s defence with strong players manning that space.  Great midfield defence from Bron, Meg and Remi returned play to Newtown’s advantage and Nicola and Peta worked hard to retain the advantage for Newtown.  Solid defence again with many interceptions by Tracey, Colleen and Ainsley but Geelong’s speed saw them find spaces in front of goal. A great season by the team with a fourth place finish a great improvement on last season.  Now on to the Semi-Final this week for an even tougher game against Corio. Go Rebels!

We are on to the Semi-Finals next week, with 9 of our 12 teams participating, so stay tuned for some exciting match reports next week.

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