There were some great matches in this round, with only 2 weeks to go before the finals of the 2017 hockey season.
Kookas
Another fantastic game of hockey this week which shows how much these players have improved during this season. Lennie showed great concentration and was keen to get in and get the ball before the opposition. Charlie was everywhere, using speed and good ball control to advance the play for his team. Tom made some great moves to get to the ball, and some great position to receive the pass from team mates. Emily, Ebony and Braydn were always ready to block opposition moves and used good strategies to send the ball into attack for their teams.
Under 8
Newtown Rebels vs College White
Rebels had another fantastic match this week, playing extremely well against Geelong College White. Rebels displayed a positive attitude throughout the game and all players were enthusiastic and worked well together.
In the first half Rebels got off to a strong start, moving forward and passing well to one another. College White tended to stay close together in the middle of the field and Rebels took advantage of this by staying in position and passing out wide to make use of the space. The team showed great tenacity, always trying to get the ball and move it forward. At half-time Colleen praised the team’s efforts, particularly their calling to each other and their positioning.
In the second half Rebels continued to dominate although they also had to defend against some strong attacks from College White. All in all, however, Rebels were the stronger team and once again showed great improvement and excellent team work.
Tommy was awarded Subway Player of the Week for most improved player, for responding well to directions from the coach along with his strong attacking skills.
Newtown Raiders vs Torquay
Well done to everybody on another great game. It was great to see some awesome passing between team members this week.
Oliver did a fabulous job as our centre and did lots of running . He was well supported by Chloe, Lilly and Jesse on the wings. Isabelle did a great job in defence, stopping lots of attempts a goal. Both Charlie and Hannah demonstrated great dribbling skills , passing out wide.
Well Done to Isabelle for being awarded Best Team Player
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers
Spirit players showcased their growing skills in defence and attack in a friendly encounter against stablemate Strikers in Under-8 competition at Lloyd Reserve at the weekend. While Strikers sprang into attack from the start of play, Spirit worked hard to block and stop their opposition’s forward march. Winger Juliette put herself in the right position time and again to not only hinder Strikers’ run with the ball, but reclaim the attack for her team.
The halfback line of Michael, Summah and Pollyanna stood strong too. With play concentrated in Strikers’ attacking zone, the trio had plenty of action repelling the ball away from the goals. Fullback Baxter performed to his usual high standard and was called on frequently to clear the ball.
At half time Coach Kellie said there were plenty of good things happening on the field including positioning. She urged them to prepare quickly for free hits and use loud voices. The coach also instructed them to look for their teammates before hitting the ball in order to make good decisions leading to linked play. And she set them a task of directing the ball sideways and then down the line.
After the break and a position reshuffle, wings Michael and Avah and centre halfback Baxter pushed their team into attack with vigour, combining beautifully to score. Minutes later Michael was back in the action, creating a solo run right up the field, sneaking his way skilfully around a defender to add to the tally. But Strikers didn’t give up for a second. They regrouped, regained their forward momentum and put serious pressure on Spirit’s defence. Fullback Pollyanna stopped a couple of strong shots on goal, sending the ball out to her teammates waiting in support.
Avah made some great decisions with her play, working out her positioning beautifully to take advantage of some lovely through balls by Baxter. Juliette followed suit, getting her stick to the ball cleanly and moving into attack. Pocket rocket Summah didn’t stand back for a second either, tackling the opposition with enthusiasm and winning frees, while Drew contributed strongly on the half back line.
Strikers, who showed impressive skills throughout the game, goaled in both halves and gave Spirit a great work out on the field. Well done to both teams for an entertaining match. After the final whistle Coach Kellie praised Spirit for their balanced game, great decisions and positioning. She applauded them for creating more space by shooting the ball down the sidelines.
Avah and Juliette received Spirit’s Best Team Player awards for the match for their strong play including taking that extra second to look up so they could seek the best passing option to their teammates. Well done girls.
Under 10
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 1-1
Another great game from strikers working together as a team. Congratulations to Ruby for scoring a goal in the first half. Isla, Jai and Charlie worked great together through the centre field. Charlie stopped the run of play from college with his tackles. Eliza May never gave up during play. Alex created turnovers by looking for the players feet and then taking the penalty quickly. Great work from Amber playing down the line and following on. Elliott made a huge pass from the side line and also stopped the College momentum. Amelia stopped the pass in from the short corner. Thamindu played a fantastic defensive role backing up Emma in the goals. Brandon and Anna had a rotating role during the game and made good decisions with their passes. Isabel practiced her defensive role with reaching in to stop play. Best Team Player awards went to Ruby and Alex.
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 1-3
Under 12
Newtown Rebels vs Geelong College 14-0
Newtown Rebels put in their strongest performance of the year, defeating Geelong College 14-0. Throughout the year, AJ has been working hard to improve the team’s ball movement. There were several outstanding switches of play making it difficult for College to defend and allowing the Rebels forwards to penetrate the goals on several occasions. It was a great team effort.
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 3-2
Round 12 saw Spirit come up against Torquay. Lachie stepped into goals for us again this week and did an exceptional job, stopping quite a number of balls that would have been certain goals.
It was a game filled with drama and excitement. Firstly we had Oliver receive a deflected ball directly into his face. Everyone thought the worst but when we checked him out there was no blood and his glasses had taken the full impact of the ball without so much as a scratch! Our second piece of drama was when Mia tripped and fell backwards hard onto her head. She was determined not to come off and played on. She did have a small break as her head was sore but the break wasn’t long and she was back on scoring one of the 3 goals!
Our other 2 goals came from the other 2 ‘veterans’ of the game Maggie and Angus. Angus, Mia and Maggie have been playing together since they were 8 and it’s been great to see them grow and develop over the years and I hope they continue to enjoy the game in the years to come.
These 3 goals were created by some brilliant team work from the rest of the team. Harry playing his 25 th game had a great passage of play that saw a well placed ball up to Angus. Matilda as always played her position really well and had some great play down the wing. Daniel also playing his 25 th had a great game and blocked the ball well to keep it up our attacking end. India seemed to find speed that we were unaware of which resulted in balls being kept in our attacking half. Liam and Mitchell were consistently solid throughout the entire game with some wonderful stick work. Once again Edie has I think cemented herself as a defender. She is so comfortable there and is so solid.
Well done everyone on a great game.
Newtown Strikers vs Bellarine Lightning 1-1
Awesome game Strikers!
It was another very windy day making conditions very difficult out on the hockey field and in the dugout! The kids played a tough first half against a very in form Bellarine Lightning team who managed to put a score on the board working their way through our strong defence.
In the second half we enjoyed watching one of the best plays of the season with Alice passing onto Gil who was in perfect position to slam it in to goal. Gil had a perfect match playing like a pro and constantly being where he needed to be. His goal was the icing on the cake and well deserved for his fantastic effort all game. Needless to say he was best on field.
Coming a close second was Kenna who was an awesome goalie yet again saving many close calls. Alice was also a standout on field working hard all game. It was lovely to see the drills being practised in training being utilised on the field. I think I saw a tear in coaches eye!
Under 14
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia 6-1
Newtown Spirit vs Geelong Jaguars 10-0
Newtown Spirit had Geelong Jaguars under pressure from the very start of their match on Sunday, and Harry, Ella and Will took advantage with early goals. Nice passing from Will and then Sam, saw Nick have a chance at goal but his hit was just wide.
Geelong Jaguars had a few forward pushes, but Newtown always had numbers to the ball. Angus made some good switches across the back, Riley, Harley and Bailey defended well and Grace and Claudia took the ball well forward on a number of occasions. Charley also had the ball up forward and hit a nice ball across goal, and Harry gave some good scoring opportunities to Nick and Grace in the D, with some great passes.
By half time, the score was 7-nil with goals to Ella (1), Harry (3) and Will (3).
At half time, Coach Carl said he wanted to see early passes, and switches going back and around, as we had a few backwards passes that were returned straight back to the same player. Assistant Coach Darren told the team to keep their position, to beat their opponent and then pass the ball, and called for the wings to take the ball out wide. In the second half, Newtown continued to control play but Geelong did threaten at times. Goalkeeper Amelia received a huge cheer from the crowd when she saved a Geelong hit at goal. But with a goal each to Angus, Harry and Will, the game ended with a 10-nil win to Newtown.
Under 17
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 8-0
Newtown were quick to advance into opposition territory and were awarded a short corner in the first few minutes. Thursday night training drills paid off handsomely when Tom trapped at the top of the D and Jemma scored with a superb strike and her first goal – hooray!! Once the excitement had abated, Newtown were back into attacking mode with a second goal to Jack, who capitalised on some confusion around the Golden Plains goal. Golden Plains were unsuccessful at a short corner and a Newtown counterattack by Tom and Miles resulted in a third goal to Jack. Two further goals to Miles and Tom courtesy of a long range through ball and short corner respectively, left the half time score at 5:0 to Newtown.
The half time oranges for both teams clearly weren’t very juicy as the second half started at a snail’s pace compared with the first half. As the half progressed Newtown began probing down the right wing and were eventually rewarded with a spectacular top of the net goal to Oliver. The right side was being favoured and yielded two further goals to Miles and another first goal to Brianna, who had been patiently waiting on the left post for her moment of glory – another hooray!!
A superb defensive effort as well from the backs and diving goal keeper who managed to keep a clean slate – great to see such commitment leading into the finals. The willingness to share the ball around and pass to team members in favourable positions was highlighted by the six different goal scorers for the game – well played to all.
Newtown Strikers Bye
Division 1 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Newtown Strikers 5-1
A very warm day and great for hockey but both teams started with only 10 players. Thanks to Ian for filling in for Falcons. Strikers caught Falcons asleep early in the game and they scored first, score 0-1. With less players in both teams, the strategy was to move players around to different positions, and it worked well, also giving players a chance for a rest without leaving the field.
Falcons’ first goal was scored after a pass from defence to Jimmy out wide across the D, on to Zed, to Adham and to Hamish who goaled – 1-1. The next goal came from a short corner, converted by Jimmy. Score at the half time break was 2-1.
A quick chat and a focus on slowing the play, and changing the play to go back before going forward saw the second half begin well. The warm weather meant drinks for all were a necessity, including the pitch. The players began to move the ball a lot better. An open play goal came from a ball from Lachie in deep defence with a 4 pass sequence – to Jimmy, Zed, Tom P and finishing with Adham who put the ball high in the net. Score 3-1.
The defence began to move forward with plenty of passing back and switching to the opposite side. Another great sequence of passes saw Zed pass to Jimmy, on to Adham and Nik behind the goalie pushed the ball in for Falcons 4th goal, score 4-1. The final goal came from a quick push from defence to Zed, and then on to Jimmy, Hamish, Adham and finished off by Tom P. Score 5-1.
Strikers at times had Falcons flat footed, and on many occasions Will H was the saviour in goals, defending many shots on goal and saving many one-on-one contests – a fantastic effort by him which kept the score down. This was a great effort from Falcons and an impressive effort by Strikers, with the game played in good spirits.
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Falcons 1-5
In a week short of players both teams started with only 9 on the field which meant that fitness would become a key factor in the game.
To the Strikers’ credit, the scores were tied 1 all at the end of the first half, with both teams making a number of attacking plays. Unfortunately, as the second half progressed, Falcons were able to overload our defence resulting in 4 goals being scored.
Talking to a number of people watching after the game they commented on how competitive the game was and were impressed at how long Strikers were able to match the Falcons in the first half.
With only two weeks to go and playing against some of the lower ranked teams, if we can continue to play like we did today it would be a nice way to round out the season.
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 0-3
Newtown Strikers Bye
Division 2 Men
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 0-5
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Saints Red 1-6
A great game by Spirit, with a never say die attitude by all players. Saints attacked early and Eichelle was under pressure in goals, so inevitably some had to go in. The defence team continue to improve each week, and Hill, Tracey and Wendy intercepted many attacks and made Saints work hard for the ball. Penny, Jacinta and Andie pushed forward to meet the ball higher up the field and gained possession on many occasions, to feed the ball through to the forward line.
Despite her sore knee, Phoebe ran hard all game and was everywhere, always ready to put pressure on the ball carrier. Peta’s persistence saw her win the ball on many occasions and strong passes to the attacking circle and good running by De and Kirsty gave us some hope. Some lovely passages of play between Penny and Kellie moved the ball along the space on the wing and into attack. The benefit of keeping your stick down was proven when Kirsty got a lucky touch and deflected a straight ball from outside the circle into goal. Despite Saints scoring plenty in the first half, the second half was a 1-1 affair. Well done Spirit.
