The 2019 hockey season is rapidly coming to a close, and with the finals drawing closer, there were some great efforts from our teams this week.
Under 8 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay
Newtown Strikers only had 3 players available for the game against Torquay this week, with a number of players away. Fortunately Kasey and Summah volunteered to help out Strikers instead of playing in their own team, joining Audrey, Lucy and Joseph. With Torquay having plenty of players, they also provided a player to the Strikers for the 2nd half.
The game was challenging as Torquay was very strong, but the Strikers team stayed focussed. The team made sure they were creating passing options and not clumping around the ball. The commitment from Lucy was obvious as she ran to different positions after identifying where she needed to be with the change of play. Joseph and Audrey also showed good movement, as well some very well directed passes.
Everybody played very well this week. Kasey and Summah won the awards this week, not only for their good play, but also for such great sportsmanship in volunteering to help out Strikers.
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Rebels
Spring was in the air on Saturday and there was also a spring in the step of the Newtown Spirit players. Defensively, players were quick to pounce on stray passes causing many fast break runs forward. Players rotated through most positions on the ground throughout the game and adapted quickly to the varied roles. This week’s Subway Award was presented to Paige and Maia was the Best Team Player.
Newtown Rebels vs Newtown Spirit
As the 2019 hockey season has progressed, it has been very pleasing to see the development of skills, confidence and focus on the play which has occurred in the Newtown Rebels team. This week saw some excellent efforts by Albie and Isaac to get to the ball first, and some great recognition of the best places to pass the ball once they had gained possession. Closer marking of the opposition players did not allow Spirit to dominate the play, and with some fast running by Manny and Lenny, Rebels were able to move the play quickly into our scoring zone. Kai and Jake were often in good position to receive passes from team mates, and created many opportunities for accurate passing sequences. Everyone received a Best Team Player award this week, as this was a fantastic team game.
Under 10 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia 1-1
This week delivered one of the most exciting performances of the season from Newtown Spirit which unfortunately was not reflected in the score. Spirit applied a lot of pressure right from the start of the game with a short corner within the first few minutes. There was also some great passing and positioning which lead to a couple of attempts on goal which didn’t quite make it (one was disallowed for not being taken outside the circle). Kardinia also had a few great shots on goal and Michael made a couple of great saves on his first time in goal.
In the second half, the game was end to end with great running and passing down the wings. Unfortunately Spirit just couldn’t get the ball over the line to take the win but it was a great effort by everyone and it was wonderful to see everyone putting their skills into practice.
Newtown Strikers vs GBS Black 2-0
This week’s game against GBS Black saw some great defence, with Sofia and Grace holding out GBS attacks in the first half and sending the ball forward for team mates to create attacks. Edward was goalkeeper this week, and showed some great positioning, watching the play carefully to prevent any scores. Charles provided a strong barrier in the midfield, gaining possession and making effective passes to team mates, and was well supported by William. Great running by Will B, Avah and Zac resulted in some great linking up and lots of forward moves and great passes to team mates running to receive. There was lots of play down the left wing in the first half which gained territory for Strikers.
Strikers continued to apply pressure whenever GBS had the ball, with Will B showing great persistence and determination. Maia positioned herself well in space to receive the ball and not allow GBS to take possession, and then passed accurately to team mates. Persistence paid off eventually with Zac scoring the first goal, and Will followed up with another in the second half. Strikers continued to have most of the play in the second half, with Maddie, Cormac and Harrison working hard. Sofia made some great space on the right wing but a tendency to pass to the centre allowed GBS to cut off attacks before they could reach the circle.
Awards this week went to Sofia and Grace. A great team effort, well done all!
Under 12 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay 1-1
We were coming off the bye this week, and had near a full squad at the game, which was great to see.
Before the game Kurt discussed with the team what they thought we had been doing well, and what was making the difference in the ball movement. They discussed how we were giving better passes, ahead of the lead, and running in waves. We also talked about the hard running, that has placed us well in many of our games.
It was great to see the kids take this into the game against Torquay. We had really good ball movement, and multiple players running forward in a wave. This gave us multiple opportunities in the first half, and a nice pass out in front of Surry, saw us on the board first. Our hard 2 way running saw us defending well, and quickly pushing back into attack. Some good defence saw us go into half time 1-0 up.
After half time the kids kept up the hard running, and good passes, which almost resulted in a goal on several forward thrusts, but the Torquay defenders were doing a good job. Torquay were pushing hard late in the second half, and unfortunately managed to sneak in the equalizing goal with only 30 seconds left on the clock. We quickly tried to push forward from the re-start, but were beaten by the buzzer.
A great game, and you should all be very proud of your efforts. The Torquay coach was very impressed with our tackling and said that a game like that should be reserved for the finals! Well done Strikers.
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia 0-5
Spirit lost to Kardinia 0-5. The team missed Hamish in goals but the defence with Ruben, Leo, Charlotte, Lucy all scrambled well under pressure and with some volunteer players Ruby and Amelia (thanks) also playing in defence their efforts were awesome. Our team had a number of attacks through Nate’s efforts and Hamish, Grace, Grace, Emme & Bella did their best to support the team in correct positions and tackling. Kardinia had some class hockey players with Ollie A amongst them and some of their sticks skills were superb so a great example for Spirit to copy and keep practising in the future.
Newtown Rebels – Bye
Under 14 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs GBS Black 2-0
Saturday saw Spirit come up against GBS Black. We started the match with the intention of sticking to our pre game strategy. Passing was quick and long, enabling us to put immediate pressure on GBS. A couple of early opportunities to score went begging, but in the 8th minute Harry B broke through to take the score to 1 nil. The Spirit full backs and halves continued to pressure GBS giving them little opportunity to move the play beyond their 25 line, let alone score. Our wings and inners ran rapidly from offense back to defense when required. Our centres had a big job to do but they did it very well setting up play after play that had us threatening to score repeatedly. A few missed opportunities on short corners were no deterrent to Luca who, after a solid push and shot by Harry, picked up a deflection off the goalie with a beautiful slap shot to send us to a 2 nil lead heading into half time.
The second half started with GBS marking our offensive plays more closely giving us a little less room. Tired legs or a 2 nil lead seemed to dull the running that was key to our strategy and had worked so well in the first half. The pace of play slowed and our attacking game fell away. Nonetheless, our defense remained solid; so much so that we thought, at one point, we saw Mai yawning. A late shot by Harry B collected the knee of a GBS player right on the line (hope she is alright), but was deemed slightly high by the umpire.
Great first half by Spirit that, if sustained for the whole game, will make us very competitive come finals. Well done team.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay 3-2
Strikers had a tough match against Torquay. At the end of the first half the scores were nil all. Mai in goals had done some terrific saving, but Torquay had also defended strongly at the other end. Harry B broke through with a goal to put Strikers on the board. Sam, Tom and Luca all defended strongly and were quick to clear the ball. Max, Maggie and Kate displayed great persistence and Ollie positioned himself well. Charlie and Liam showed great ball control skills. We were without some of our regular players for this match and as we had ‘double ups’, this meant we could only have 11 players. There were some very tired faces at the end of the match but they had smiles on them from the win.
Under 17 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Geelong Jaguars 0-7
In sunny conditions last Saturday Newtown Spirit played Geelong Jaguars in a very strong and positive start to the game. Lots of great speed and confidence was shown from both sides, in particular from Jarret and Harley, who were able to perform great passing to several Newtown players. Jaguars played their usual attacking game and had multiple goal attempts; however, our goalie Max was able to show his talent in great defence work which prevented Jaguars in scoring some of their goals. Caleb, Bailey, Ethan and Angus also showed their usual determination in great defence work and to allow direct passing for Newtown to be given some scoring opportunities, but were unsuccessful. At half time coach Pete commented on the good intensity of the game.
The second half became more challenging for Newtown, with Jaguars continuing their frequent attacks, which provided Jaguars with three consecutive short corner opportunities but they were unable to score. Newtown tried to pass out wide where Isabel gained some great possession and firm hitting opportunities. Goals came in quick succession later on for Jaguars however, but Newtown did display some great determination and speed which saw the end score 0-7 for Jaguars.
Thank-you to Issy for filling in.
Newtown Strikers – Bye
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Saints 0-3
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Saints White 2-1
Newtown Spirit headed into this game with a sense of optimism following some great games in recent weeks. A win would see the team earn a place in the finals, so there was plenty of incentive.
Spirit began the game well, with the strong defence unit blocking Saints attacks. Spirit scored first with Hannah netting her second goal in two weeks from a well taken short corner. Hannah, Andie, Beth and Kellie in the midfield marked their opposition well, not allowing them space to run or play their usual fast flow on game. With Tracey meeting any threat in our attacking half, and Kylie presenting a near impassable barrier at the top of the circle Saints did not have many opportunities. Saints scored from one of only three short corners for the whole game.
Quickly taken free passes were very effective, with players immediately in good supporting positions and the ball moved from defence to attack, often by playing the ball around the back and switching to the opposite side. Georgie was particularly effective in taking the quick self pass, having the ball metres away by the time the opposition realised that the free hit had been taken. Newtown continued to attack in the second half, with well directed passes and short layoffs to team mates and great running to get to the ball first by Maryanne, Georgie, Peta, Katie. Kate and Deanne positioned themselves well to receive, with a great back stick trap by De, and Kate’s speed and control while dribbling got behind the Saints defence and into attack. Lauren had another great game, running well whether in attack or defence and was always in the right position, and making good passes to team mates. Kellie at right half provided some great outlet positioning and some great running to overlap and scored the second goal with a lovely hit from just inside the circle.
An excellent effort from the whole team. Look out finals! Here we come.
Senior Men
Newtown Spirit vs Saints 2 1-8
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong White 2-4
