Round 5 of the 2016 hockey season saw great results for some teams, while others found it hard going due to lack of available players. But you could never fault the effort given by all the players.
Kookas Midweek
What a great game this was! Team Orange opened the scoring with a nice run down the left side of the field to score. Team Red were determined not to let that go unchallenged and soon had the ball in their attack zone, with great switching by Ella to give her team some forward thrust. Great calling by Sam H, Jai and Ben, working well together, and with Amy keeping control on the right wing, the Orange defence had to work hard to prevent scores by Red. Wide position by Alex, with great backup and nice passing by Shauna and effective tackling by Sam S helped Team Orange to regain some control. The second half saw Ben score a sneaky goal for Team Red, capitalising on a defence error. Hayden, Zac and Cate worked hard for their teams, and even Robbo and Jai’s little brother Tom joined the game, so everyone was having a great time. The game finished as a 2-2 draw – a good result for a game with good skills and hockey strategy on display.
Under 8
Newtown Rebels vs Golden Plains
Congratulations to all the Rebels players for the great determination and effort they showed in this game. Talking and passing wide to each other was excellent. Hana and Hamish showed great defence work and stopped many of Golden Plains’ shots at goal, and Scarlett showed outstanding use of open space and width on the wing. Hannah trapped the ball well and used very effective passes to reach her team mates. Georgie has shown great improvement in her trapping, ball control and passing skills and put in an immense effort on the day, earning her the Best Team Player award this week. Well done to all – we are very proud of your efforts on the day.
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia 3
Newtown Spirit delivered a strong performance against Kardinia 3 in Under 8 competition at Lloyd Reserve on Saturday. The team started confidently, with all players involved in the action and combining efficiently to help notch up several goals by the final whistle. The linked play was great to watch, as Spirit members fed each other the ball both out of defence and into attack. Within the opening minutes of the game right half Avah fired off a great pass to centre half Max who directed it to right wing Lucy, who was beautifully positioned near the goals. And that set the tempo for the rest of the match. Max was on fire, cleanly stopping the opposition’s forward push and heading straight into attack time and again. Ruben also displayed his skills after moving to half back, controlling the ball and looking for sensible passing options on the run. Meyah helped open up the field with an energetic display, including a quality sprint with the ball up the left that contributed to Spirit’s goal tally for the day. Other first-half highlights included Charlotte’s actions in directing her free hits with great vision, picking out well-positioned team mates and sending the ball to them.
At half time Coach Kellie applauded her team’s efforts and use of space but urged them to always look to their teammates for passing options. The team’s second half was characterised by quality ball movement, with accurate passing between teammates as they looked for ways to work their way around the opposition and follow their coach’s instructions. Meyah, taking on full-back responsibilities, calmly and efficiently shut down a strong Kardinia run towards goal on more than one occasion before feeding the ball forward again. Max, Avah, Lucy and Ruben all combined in a stand-out passage of linking play which was great to see. Summah, stepping up from Joeys to boost Spirit’s ranks, was among the action on the forward line.
The game started with confident play, and that’s how it ended too, with centre half Lucy avoiding Kardinia players by dishing out a great pass to centre Charlotte who fired off a shot that narrowly missed the goals. Ruben picked up the Best Team Player award for the match for looking for his teammates when passing and thinking about the best passing options. Well done Spirit.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay
Once again we were greeted with perfect weather for hockey. Alex J displayed some lovely wide passes on the wing to assist in setting up Isla to take shots on goals. Ruby and Isla combined well in front of goals and were able to take multiple successful shots throughout both half’s. All was quiet in the goal keeper role for Amelia. Eliza again showed off her fancy footwork to stop turnovers to Torquay. Amy demonstrated how her skills have been developed from the Kookas mid-week competition with lovely ball control with turning away from the opposition and pushing the ball along the wings. As we progress through the season we will be concentrating on our positions on the field, Emma was great at staying in the correct position throughout the game. We even had a little running man celebration when scoring this week.
This week we want to continue to stay in our positions and not crowd the ball. We will be focusing on keeping distance between our team mates so we can work on passing the ball down the field. Best Team Player was awarded to Amy for her ball control.
Newtown Raiders vs Kardinia Kookaburras
An excellent game by Newtown Raiders who continue to improve each week. With 6 players the team is often outnumbered by the opposition but this doesn’t deter them from giving their best efforts. Raiders began the game well with Oscar defending the goals, and stopping a number of Kardinia’s shots. Quick free passes found team mates in space and Isabel was able to run the ball into attack and put real pressure on the Kardinia defenders. The enthusiasm and determination of the Raiders players can never be faulted and with players holding position better each week, the team is developing some excellent strategic play and effective passing. The second half saw Jesse, Charlotte and Oscar even more involved in the game, and a lovely quick free pass by Eliza-May found Oscar in the perfect position to score. Great focus on the ball by Isabel, Eliza-May and Cate and good leading to space set up many opportunities for Raiders to move into attack. Best Team Player award this week to Oscar.
Under 11 North
Newtown Rebels vs Bellarine Lightning 3-0
Newtown Rebels returned to the synthetic surface at Stead Park on Saturday for their game against Bellarine Lightning. While the team were happy to be back on a faster pitch, it was a little slippery from overnight rain or early morning dew. Our passing was again really good, with Basyl, Brandon, Charlotte, Imogen and Teijai giving teammates running forward great opportunities. Our players with only a few games for Newtown – Genevieve, Grace, Luca, Patrick and Teijai – are all contributing and showing great enthusiasm at the ball.
Bellarine’s defence was harder to get through in this second match-up for the season, and the final score was Newtown 3:0 with goal scorers Kiah, Olivia and Patrick.
Under 11 South
Newtown Spirit vs Geelong College Green 1-2
A very even game for the first half, with neither team able to score. Daniel volunteered to put on the goalie gear and did a fantastic job, keeping out a number of College’s attempts to score. Jamie and Liam at full back intercepted many of the College forward moves, and used quick free passes to reduce the danger in front of goal. Great ball control skills by Mia allowed her to distribute the ball well to team mates in good space. Strong and confident approaches to the ball by Tilly and Maggie saw them gain possession and create attacks for Newtown but without the success their efforts deserved. The second half continued as a fairly even tussle until College were able to score 2 quick goals toward the end of the second half. But a never say die attitude by all the team, and great ball control and perseverance by Ruby saw her score a back stick tap into goal late in the game. Best Team Player awards to Liam and Tilly.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay Tornadoes 4-0
With an undermanned team, Newtown Strikers showed they still had plenty of determination and strategic play in their arsenal. Great defence again by Michael, Nathan and Kenna, with Declan maintaining good position to control the midfield. Great running on the forward line by Jack, Ruby and Tilly to put pressure on the Torquay defenders. Gil and Zoe continue to provide great midfield support to team mates and Zoe even got into the forward play to score her first goal ever. Goals to Gil, Declan, Zoe and Ruby. Great effort by all the players, with Best Team Player awards to Tilly and Gil.
Under 13
Newtown Spirit vs Bellarine 0-2.
Thank you to Mike who coached the U13 Newtown Spirit team this week and thanks to all the team for showing great sportsmanship in helping Bellarine by switching the time to 8.15am so the game could go ahead. Unfortunately for us, Bellarine were too strong on the day and won 2:0. The score does not show what a great game it was and how hard Bellarine had to fight for the win. Well done to Spirit team as it was a great match. The team showed some good individual skills, creating some exciting goal opportunities. Well done to Claudia for her great positioning in the circle and for creating several goal opportunities. Max (in goals) had a great game and saved many an attack from Bellarine, ably assisted by Angus. Well done also to Will who provided great stability across the half line, working hard to move the ball forward into attack and then having to run hard back into defence at times.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay Tornadoes 3-1
Under 15
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 0-5
An under strength U15 Strikers took to the field on Saturday against the Spirit and were out played by the better team on the day, going down 5 nil in a fast moving game. The efforts of the Hudson twins, Oscar and Jack ensured the Strikers remained in the game as much as possible, setting up a number of good scoring shots that failed to land home through a bit of bad luck and strong defence from the Spirit.
Under 17
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 2-4
This is the game we had been waiting for. The two undefeated top teams were up against each other and both wanted to show their talents. The fact that it was an intra-club game increased the rivalry even more. The Spirit scored the first goal despite our team being in the forward line a lot. We had troubles getting around the Spirit’s goalie but Tom M eventually scored a break-through goal during a scrap heap in the densely populated circle. We had some great build-ups, with Hudson and the defenders, Corey and Ollie, distributing the ball out wide consistently through the two Luke’s who both ran hard to find open spaces and push the ball forward through our wings, Will and Jack. Someone noted at half time that the centre of the field was empty most of the time; both teams must have been listening to their junior coaches all those years who kept telling them to play wide! The Spirit caught us off-guard to score a couple of more goals in the second half. We finished off with a well-deserved goal from Tom P after the final whistle during a PC. It was very encouraging to see such a high work rate by all of our players with plenty of movement off the ball. We may not have won on the score board but the team should be very proud of how they played.
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 4-2
Beautiful morning to play hockey. Our first tussle with Newtown Strikers since the start of the competition. Janette (TM) and Richard (coach) from Strikers worked collaboratively with us to put even numbers on the field for both teams, allowing a more even game. We certainly had an even game, with both teams working to get some action in their forward half. Josh (GK) defended the goals and his wonderful style and Spirit were able to limit the goal scoring for Strikers to 1 goal each half. Fought out in the midfield, there was some strong performances to enable Spirit to move the ball into our attacking 25. First goal was a beautiful pass from Gus to Jonah (lovely sibling collaboration!!) who was able to finish with a no fuss goal. Nice defense by Strikers also limited conversion from many opportunities through PC’s (7 in all). Two goals each half by Spirit, resulted in a 4:2 win. Great to see both teams working together and in a good natured contest.
Another couple of weeks break for Spirit now with JCC next weekend followed by a BYE! Hopefully no-one forgets how to play in the meantime!!!
Division 1 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 1-9
We’ve all heard of a “back against the wall” victory. Well, on the weekend the Falcons were part of a “back against the wall” loss. Crippled by injury, illness and other commitments, the wounded Falcon faced a full strength Torquay attack hell bent on poking it in the eye. Luckily, while the Falcon was wounded, it still had use of half its wing and very sharp beak. We welcomed some Falcon debutants in ‘GK Thornie’ and ‘The Gabster’, and welcomed back KSD, aka ‘Sarge’, who immediately put his brutal pace and twinkle toes to good effect in defense. Birsel approached Coach Redbeard about playing up forward. Coach Redbeard could only afford one forward and it certainly wasn’t going to be Birsel so instead ‘The A Train’ did a super job ducking and weaving around the forward line. The ‘Doctor’ with his thick mop of hair was busy in the midfield, while ‘Double J’ worked hard and earnt a number of short corners, one of which was converted by ‘Sarge’. ‘Molly Meldrum’ was crook but that didn’t stop him from doubling up and Coach Redbeard even managed to get the ball into the circle and fall over while taking a shot. The score wasn’t impressive, but what was impressive was the endeavor of the players who took the field and played in the spirit of the Falcon.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay Tornadoes 3-11
A depleted player list saw the Strikers up against the odds. The team played well but were not able to match Torquay on the day
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Bellarine 4-4
Newtown Strikers vs Saints 2-2
Strikers played a great game on Sunday against the Saints with a 2 all draw. We had most of the play up forward with many near miss shots. Our forward and mid lines did an excellent job getting through the Saints defense and our defence did their job well holding off the strong Saints attacks.
Division 2 Men
Newtown Spirit vs Saints 2-2
With the unavailable list longer than the team list, the Newtown U17s, with help from a few seniors, took on top of the ladder Saints. The game started strongly by both sides, and with Saints experience they put pressureon the defence and with a deflecion off our goalie’s stick, Saints went 1 goal up. Newtown turned the play around with great running and passing and a strong pass from AJ on the wing saw Alex slot the ball into the top of the net. The game was being played hard and fast by both sides and through a turnover Saints got into the circle and squeezed the ball past our goalie’s glove. Half time score 1-2 to Saints.
The second half was a hard encouter for both sides. Newtown kept pressure on Saints defence and a number of corners were created but we couldn’t convert. Newtown’s defence held strong from a number of drives by Saints forwards who also couldn’t convert short corners. A clearing hit from defence by Matt saw Alex pick up a good trap and took the ball into the circle and receive a short corner. With a change of striker in the corner setup Gus drove a great shot into the backboard, 2 all, and the final whistle went to end a great game of hockey. An excellent result for Spirit who sit on the bottom of the ladder to know that they can mix it with the top team.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Rebels vs Golden Plains 0-3
Blustery mild conditions greeted both teams on Saturday. Rebels started off well but Golden Plains just had the edge and scored 2 quick goals. Brilliant stick work from Monique allowed great possession and plays along the right side. In the second half Rebels regrouped and were able to tighten up marking in the centre. Solid hits from Hillary with sound goal keeping from Eichelle kept our defence strong. Kirsty made great surges on the wing to push on our attack. In the last few minutes Rebels were rewarded with a series of short corners but were unable to score. A huge thank you to Claire and Monique for doubling up. Happy travelling Hillary.
