Round 2 of the 2018 hockey season saw teams begin to settle and get used to their team mates and game plans. There were some excellent efforts in all levels.
Under 8
Newtown Spirit v Newtown Strikers
Spirit players put in a strong game against Newtown stablemate Strikers when the enthusiastic teams met in Under-8 competition at Lloyd Reserve on Saturday. With Drew, Braxton and Maia on the forward line, Michael and Summah at halfback and Pollyanna in goals, the team combined well in a congested first half of play. Despite the crowding, there were some great examples of teamwork, with Drew running beautifully into gaps to collect the ball. At one stage Summah powered a lovely free hit out wide to Drew who was waiting near the sideline to avoid the crush of players.
At half time Coach Kellie applauded her players for marking well and watching the ball. She urged them to spread out and be aware of where their teammates were on the field. With a quick position shuffle at half time, which included Summah moving to goalie and Michael to right wing, the play resumed. Both teams lifted in the second half, with spectators treated to a faster, flowing and more open match than the first half.
Summah did a great job defending the goals at fullback and was calm under attack, Braxton tackled with determination and Maia marked strongly and kept applying pressure to the opposition. Michael added speed and skill at right wing and Pollyanna worked hard at centre forward. Drew had a ripper second half and, in a stand-out moment, carried the ball more than half the field, evading opposition tackles, in an impressive lone run to goal successfully.
Strikers, who also goaled during the match, enjoyed strong passages of play during the game too, which was great to see.
Coach Kellie told her young Spirit team they’d played a “beautiful” second half, praising their tackling, positioning and ball movement. She awarded the Subway Best Team Player award to Drew for his fantastic match, saying he listened and followed her instructions and always kept his stick on the ground.
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit
Strikers had another good match this week against Newtown Spirit. Both teams were evenly matched and all players contributed enthusiastically to produce a great team effort.
In the first half, Spirit started strongly but the Strikers responded well and showed some very effective defending skills. Then, as their confidence grew, they started to attack more. At half-time Colleen praised the team’s efforts and reminded them to keep calling to one another and stay in position.
In the second half, Strikers continued to move forward more and their passing improved also. All in all, it was a very close match which, very fairly, ended in a draw.
Jacob was awarded Subway Player of the Week for a great performance, as well as listening to and acting upon Colleen’s instructions. Well done Jacob!
Newtown Rebels vs Torquay
An excellent game from Rebels, with Zeph in great position in front of goals and defending well. Strong passing by all players got the ball moving forward into attack, and Sofia and George lead many forays into the attack zone. Great work by Amelia, keeping her stick down, and making the opposition work hard to regain control. Edward showed great thinking whenever he got the ball, with effective passing and good ball control skills, often denying Torquay their planned advance to goal. Great free passes to people in space set up forward moves for Rebels. Strong passes and hard running by Harrison prevented Torquay gaining the advantage. Thanks to Sam who played for Torquay in the second half to even up the numbers. Subway Best Team Player Award to Edward.
Under 10 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 2-0
Another great game from Strikers on the weekend saw them earn another win for this hockey season. Unfortunately we did not capitalise on all the well earned short corners due to some outstanding goal keeping by the College keeper. Everyone was making sure that the ball was over the D line before attempting to push the ball in.
Great calling from Zac and Ruby throughout the game giving their team mates options to pass to. Emma and Meyah worked together with their tackling in the centre of the field and never gave up, while also watching the ball and following on. Eliza and Meyah both successfully scored and Jai unfortunately was denied a goal. Surry and Jai were calling to each other and earning the penalties to bring on the chance to score from a short corner. Great positioning from Amelia allowing her to trap the ball and sending the ball straight on to Jai in front of goals. Great positioning from Will throughout the game and trapping the ball. It was a very quiet morning for Elliott as our goal keeper as our rotating backs of Alex, Zac, Lucinda, Tommy and Ruby stopped any attempts on goals before they reached her. Kye worked throughout the game on the wing keeping the ball moving along the line and then moving in to the goal post.
Coach Jane spoke to the team about making sure they are not crowding the play and keeping in their position as this gives options. Also a need to pass to the sides for our wings to bring the ball along the sidelines and then pass into the D. We need to focus on our short corners to convert into goals.
Player of the match was awarded to Jai for never giving up and consistent dribbling creating pressure on the opposition and Zac awarded the Subway voucher for his constant tackling.
Newtown Spirit vs Red Jaguars 1-0
What a fantastic game – from Hamish and his goalie effort (think he stopped about 5 goals) to a beautiful play involving a number of the team, that saw Ruben score the only goal for the game.
The opposition were fast and strong but because we were playing the ball down the sides rather than through the middle we were able to keep up the pressure and play a great game.
Tactics that Kellie talked about were to play down the right side to ensure that you are playing the oppositions weaker side and when going in for the ball make sure you push it forward once your stick is on the ball…..as this will see you push the ball through the oppositions legs and score a free pass.
Best Team Player Awards went to Leo and Hamish with excellent efforts throughout the game.
Under 10 Girls
On Monday night we played our first ever Under 10 Girls game at Stead Park.
Elliott, Ruby, Lily and Matilda were in the purple while pink team consisted of Aimee, Stella, Amelia and Claire filled in to even up the numbers. All the girls played really well on the faster surface. Great calling from Ruby helped to keep possession of the ball and moving the ball from player to player. Amelia would move up to the attacker to stop the run of play. Elliott and Lily rotated positions from the wing to full back throughout the game to support the purple team while Matilda covered so much of the field. Stella never gave up and created options by staying in position. Aimee trapped the ball well and fought off the tackles to score twice. Goals were scored by Ruby, Matilda, Aimee and Amelia. Well done girls for a great first game.
So girls if you are available on Monday nights, please join us and bring a friend to try out.
Under 12
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 1-4
The U’12 Strikers vs Spirit game was exciting to watch and evenly matched in the 1st half with goalie Mai saving a number of Spirit goal opportunities. Our positional play keeps improving each week, Alice’s passing was excellent and both Tom and Max played well. Unfortunately we hit double trouble or double Liam (s) in the 2nd half and Spirit players roaming free outside the posts! Result 1-4 with a last second goal from our Max.
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 4-1
U12 Spirit welcomed Brandon and Daniel to the team for the 2018 hockey season. A good team game lifted Spirit to a 4-1 win over the Newtown Strikers with a number of players settling well into their positions particularly Emma and Issy in their roles as half backs. Playing a key role in attack, Liam K and Lachie led the charge to combine for a great initial goal followed by a strong individual effort by Liam K for our second goal.
The defence was tested on a number of occasions by good running play from Strikers but Ollie J and Liam P-H in defence proved a strong and determined line of defence. Showing his pace and skill with the ball, Liam P-H scored another strong goal for Spirit. An outstanding effort in goal saw Oli A keep numerous shots from Strikers out of the goal with diving saves and strong kicks to clear the ball from the circle.
Strikers were rewarded for continued pressure with their goal scored 7 seconds from the end of play. Good skills and improved positional play from Bella (playing on the post but also running along the wing), Grace (also using her skills to carry the ball out wide on the wing) and Gil, had play moving up to the circle with a strong goal by Gil to convert on a series of great passes between players. Gil’s goal came from taking time to control the ball and looking for opportunities for passes. Great to see Coach Tom emphasising team play as a key strategy. Well done Spirit : a great result and an excellent team game.
Under 14
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 2-3
Newtown enjoyed the majority of possession early in the first half but weren’t able to score due to some desperate defence by Torquay. Equally impressive around the Newtown goal were Luca and goal keeper Grace who were able to clear three attacks on goal by Torquay. Newtown scored late in the half through Harry to go into the half time break with a 1:0 lead.
Torquay equalised early in the second half from a short corner, but Newtown were soon back in front again following a succession of short corners and an opportunistic goal from Will. Sensing that the game was slipping away, Torquay changed up a gear and scored two quick goals to lead 3:2. It was a gallant effort by Newtown to try and equalise with only a few minutes remaining, but to no avail.
A tough game, however all should be proud of their efforts and unlucky to concede a late winning goal by Torquay. Thanks to Grace the rostered on goal keeper, fantastic performance for a first time in goal and against tough opposition. It is a bye for us this coming weekend, but training is still on this week so see you all at 5:30pm on Thursday.
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong 1-7
This week Strikers met Geelong on Pitch 1 at Stead Park. We had 14 players and the benefit of a full bench on a warm Saturday.
Geelong started very strongly and the ball was locked in the Strikers’ defensive half for much of the first half. Despite some stoic defence when it was raining balls, some got through and by the conclusion of the first half Geelong held sway by 7 goals. Lillie had a strong half on the wing. It would have been easy at this time to throw in the towel however Strikers fought very hard in the second half to win the half 1-0. Some long balls from Jarret playing through Maggie set up Robbo and a short corner with an excellent goal from Robbo.
Under 17
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia 5-1
Strikers bounced back from their 1-nil loss against Torquay last week with a 5-1 win against Kardinia. Miles scored a goal within the first minute, and we had most of the posession in the first half, with great passing from E.J., Harry and new youngsters Jarret and Sam S giving Miles another goal, and Oscar scoring 2 goals in the first half. Luka’s goalkeeping was incredible, saving some excellent hits from Kardinia, in particular a high ball half-way through the second half.
Kardinia lifted late in the second half and scored after a quick turnover, but generally our defence through Caleb, Ella, Jack and Sam R was strong all day. The game ended 5-1 after Miles and Jack had hits on goal saved and then Miles got a hit past the goalie.
Coach Darren was pleased with the effort and said he wants the team to continue working on their possession game, keep talking and letting the ball carrier know when you’re in good position to receive, and to run hard and keep clear of the opposition.
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 0-0
Newtown Spirit played a solid defensive game against a strong Torquay side on Sunday to draw the game nil/nil. Full credit to goalie Angus who stepped in for the game and made a number of great saves including a heart stopping high stick save with only five minutes to go. Rachel also made an impressive flat-stick block in front of goals to clear the ball in the first half.
Spirit increased the intensity of attack in the second half, including a shot on goal by Emily and a short corner opportunity created by Miles, and were unlucky not to score. After the game coach Paul commented the team “did a perfect job of keeping Torquay scoreless”. A great team effort.
Division 1 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Geelong 4-2
It was a solid 4-2 win by Falcons against Geelong this week. Some great team play resulted in numerous scoring opportunities. Lots of movement up forward provided plenty of space for the forwards to work into and with a young forward line growing in confidence, Jonah (2 goals), Callum and Tom scored great goals.
The defence was solid with Sean and Lachie leading the way and Will was sensational in goals saving numerous goal attempts by Geelong. For Will’s outstanding effort in goals he was awarded the IGA Friendly Grocer Player of the Week. Keep up the great works boys!
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Geelong 0-2
Division 2 Men
Newtown Spirit vs Corio 1-2
Spirit faced a determined Corio outfit on Saturday. We were up against it from the start playing with no subs and one man off injured halfway through the first half, so undermanned with only 10 players most of the game. Throughout the game Spirit were equal to the task, and the score was 0-0 at half time. The lessons learnt from the previous week were evident with a more coordinated approach to our passing resulting in some good passages of play.
Marty was a clear frustration to the Corio forwards, with some great saves as well as coordinating our defence. Corio’s persistence paid off though and scored the first two goals. This however was answered with a great through ball from Dave sending Will on a spectacular run down the wing, Will was airborne over Corio’s keeper as the ball hit the back of the goal! The game opened up in the latter stages of the second half as both sides fatigued and we created a good number of opportunities, just not converted. The end score was 2 – 1 in Corio’s favour.
Corio was the deserved winner at the end of the day but the substantial improvement from last week was great to see. For a side still finding their feet and learning to play together we’re enjoying our hockey and heading in the right direction.
Votes from the team: Dave, Ian, and Jimmy F. Goals: 1 to Will
Injuries: Olli copped a ball to the head and sat the rest of the game out. Get better soon Olli.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Saints Red 0-7
A disappointing score for this game, but one which did not reflect the performance of the team and the overall standard of the game. Newtown Spirit showed some great teamwork and excellent positioning in defence with Tracey and Hillary blocking many Saints attempts to get into the circle in the first half. Good linking between the defence and the midfield with Andie, Beth and Wendy working hard, and covering their opponents well.
Peta put in a strong game as usual, with some great clearing passes which sent our forwards into attack. Great running by Julie and determined hassle by Kellie saw the ball move into attack and Kirsty and Deanne made some nice moves to gain possession. Not having the advantage of a bench meant that players tired as the game progressed and it was hard work to keep up with the younger Saints team. However, despite this, every player continued to give their best effort and congratulations are due to all.
