The Junior teams were back in play this week and keen to finish off the 2019 hockey season strongly. There were some excellent examples of perseverance and commitment against tough opposition.
Under 8 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia
The highlight of the game, and the pinnacle of achievement for the hockey season, came in the form of a great team goal. A centre pass was followed by 4 successive passes, and finished with a goal without the opposition touching the ball. Parents and coach continue to be impressed with the Spirit team’s endeavour and teamwork.
Blade was awarded Best Team Player for his consistent effort throughout the game. Braxton received the Subway Award for relentless attack on the ball.
Newtown Rebels vs Saints
Newtown Rebels played Saints on Saturday, and with a few players missing on both teams, there was plenty of room to practice passing, making space and calling.
Kai scored a hat trick of goals, the best one coming after a chain of passes through Kasey and Lenny. Jake did a great job in goals, and Albert made a couple of great tackles and passes. Well played Rebels!
Awards to Kasey and Jake, who both showed great awareness of where there team mates were positioned, and of making great position themselves to receive passes. Great running by Lenny and Kai for the whole game. Congratulations also to the Rebels players for their sportsmanship and fair play attitude to the new players on the Saints team.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay
Under 10 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 10-1
All players were eager and excited to get back into some Hockey after a 3 week mid-season break. The focus on the training pitch was quick ball movement and the Strikers implemented this strategy with great success in their game against Geelong College.
Quick free hits and good positioning from our wings allowed Strikers to use the width and space to go around the Geelong College defence, which created multiple goal shots and goals. To Geelong College’s credit they scored a hard fought goal right before half time, but it was a dominant performance by Strikers, particularly Zac and Will B who were both all over the field in attack and defence displaying great individual skill and distribution to teammates.
Goal scorers Zac (4), Will B (3) and Jacob (3). Subway and Best Team Player Awards to Zac and Will B.
Newtown Spirit vs GBS Black 3-2
After a three week break, Newtown Spirit were slow out of the blocks against GBS Black this week. GBS kept the Newtown forwards contained in the first half and took the lead 0-2. Newtown struggled to make good use of the field and lacked discipline in the positioning.
Newtown came out strongly in the second half and turned the game around. The team worked brilliantly together with great calling and passing across the field. The continued pressure resulted in goals from Baxter and Michael. In the dying minutes of the match a second goal from Michael gave Spirit the win. A brilliant comeback and amazing team effort!
Under 12 Mixed
Newtown Rebels vs Kardinia 0-2
It was great to see the team back together on the field on Saturday morning. They hit the field with enthusiasm but were forced into defensive play by Kardinia for most of the first half. There were a few successful clearances from the goals, including an impressive reverse stick save by Gil off the first short corner. After several attacks, Kardinia managed to sneak their first goal past our line of defence.
In the second half Rebels re-grouped, successfully passing the ball out wide to the wing for more opportunities in attack. Emma made several terrific breaks with the ball, Jai and Brayden both had promising attacks into the D, and Alex provided some fantastic passes to open up the field. Eliza, Perry and Toby tackled well in defence and Kye, filling in from Strikers, provided some fantastic clearances in the goals. Unfortunately Kardinia managed to sneak another goal through and we were beaten 2-0 in the end.
Most valued player this week is awarded to Brayden for providing mature leadership when the team received a warning for 5-yards clearance for a free hit, and for holding his position and thus providing a reliable option for passes out wide.
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 0-9
With 2 players short Newtown Spirit contested all game vs Torquay, 2nd on the ladder, in a good team effort which was big on tackling and improved passing from Spirit.
Captain Lucy led the team and while the team combined well in defence with Ruben, Charlotte and Hamish in goals starring, Spirit also had times in attack through Emma, Nate and Hamish and Emme in the right positions. However some turnovers occurred due to lack of players up front cost the team with goals against.
Grace did well to keep playing after an early hit in the face mask whilst defending a penalty corner! Overall a great effort despite 0-9 score line.
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong Jaguars 1-1
Another game of two halves this week for the Strikers. The first half we only had about 30% of the team switched on, with the remaining 70% of us having our hockey minds still on holidays. However, some big individual efforts saw us go into half time only 0-1 down, with Mai again doing some great work in the goals.
Kurt rallied the troops at half time, asking for the effort levels which he knows the kids have in them. What a turnaround for the second half. The first part of the half was very even, with both teams rebounding out of defence, and moving the ball into attack. However, as the half progressed, our hard running started to pay off, with repeat entries into the D, several of our forwards having shots on goal, and we were finally rewarded with an equalising goal, courtesy of a deft tap from Charlie W.
The last 3 minutes of the half we managed to keep the ball locked in our attacking quarter, and had multiple shots on goal, however Geelong’s defence remained strong, and they managed to keep the balls out. Just as we were coming in for another attack the final whistle went, and the game probably fittingly finished with a 1-1 draw given our slow start to the game.
Hopefully we can bring this second half momentum into next week’s game, with those switched on hockey brains!
Under 14 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia White 0-5
On Sunday Spirit returned from the break with a tough game against Kardinia White. The match started evenly, with some good open passing from both teams. Kardinia gradually gained momentum, holding play in its attacking half by relentless tackling and giving us no room. Spirit managed a few fast breaks out of defense, one that saw Adam run the ball deep down the left wing creating the first real scoring opportunity. Kardinia responded and pressed harder putting loads of pressure on our full backs. Luca and Harry W aggressively defended multiple short corners while Mai repeatedly rejected fast open shots at goal by the Kardinia forwards. Finally, 10 minutes in, Kardinia scored their first and followed up with a second 2 minutes later. Spirit doubled down on defense during the rest of the half to keep the score at 2-nil.
Coach Darren, assisted by his deputy, Harry, urged the team to always push wide out of defense rather than straight down the pitch. Then, from mid-field, angle the play into the top of the D. Kardinia lifted their intensity in the second half scoring after 3 minutes and again 3 minutes later. The final score was 5-0 to a determined Kardinia.
Despite the end score, Spirit played a good game, defending well and keeping their heads up. Well done.
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Blue 2-2
Strikers had most of their team members back and joined by Luca and Mai from Spirit, the team played a fantastic match against Kardinia Blue who were on top of the ladder. Strikers started strongly with Liam shooting the first goal and despite a couple of short corners, they kept Kardinia scoreless in the first half. The team played with confidence and determination. Basyl displayed incredible energy and along with Tom, Max, Sam, Oskar and Charlie made Kardinia work hard when trying to move the ball to their forward line. Ollie, Kayla, Kate and Maggie played their positions well and Brandon hit some great passes. Luca was strong in defence and goalie Mai was sensational in stopping some potential goals. It was a terrific effort by Strikers to draw 2 all with Kardinia in what was a tough match.
Under 17 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 4-1
A beautiful sunny day saw round nine, and the two Newtown teams were up against each other; both teams sought assistance from other Newtown teams, some of these players having played a game just prior to this one.
With no goalie for Spirit, the first half of the game saw the ball spend most of its time in their forward area. Strikers had a strong defence which meant Spirit had several attempts for goal, but were not able to get the ball in the net. Short passing was essential for Spirit if they wanted to get the ball forward. This made Tom a key player as he was able to pass it up for Harley to run onto.
With the first half over the scores were 2-0 to Spirit. With the Strikers scoring an own goal this gave Harley the goal as he was the last to touch it from Spirit. Tom scored the second goal of the half after Jarret ran it up for him.
With the second half underway Strikers came out hard and with desire to score a goal. Bailey, Caleb and Angus played extremely well to defend the goals without a goalie. Strikers managed to get the ball through fast enough and score their only goal for the game. With Jarret showing great determination and leading all throughout the game Tom was able to pass the ball to Jarret at the top of the “D”, he was then able to run it across the top and get a lucky goal. Tom had some missed opportunities. However, was able to score one goal, it was a high ball with just seconds left on the clock.
Final scores were 4-1, an overall good game to watch and a great win by Spirit. We would like to thank all the players who helped out Spirit and Strikers this week to make up the numbers.
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 1-4
Newtown Strikers played Newtown Spirit in ideal conditions on Sunday in the first match back after an extended mid-season break. This inter-club game is always a highly contested and anticipated match. Spirit wasted no time in attacking with a goal within the first two minutes and they continued to attack consistently throughout the first half. Strikers came back with a shot on goal, however this was intercepted and cleared by the Spirit defense. Spirit scored again in the second half and lead by two at half time.
Coach Gordon’s half time talk focused on Strikers covering players, accelerating and anticipating passes. Instructions also included instant manning up, inside and close and
covering players on the inside. To the Strikers’ credit, they were far more aggressive in the second half with a goal scored by Oliver from a lovely pass from Harry into the unguarded goal. Strikers held possession for a large portion of the second half, however, were unable to breach the Spirit defense a second time with the final result 4:1 to Spirit.
Thanks to Kate for stepping up from the U/14’s and providing us with extra substitute options.
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 0-7
A very young Falcons team, with 10 players in junior and senior high, played a very experienced Torquay team. For the first 25 minutes, Falcons stayed toe to toe. Torquay managed 3 goals, to go into half time leading 3-0. With some good forays into the Torquay circle, Falcons couldn’t quite put one between the posts. A force to watch out for in coming years – Falcons battled hard to the final whistle, and can hold their heads high in 1 0-7 loss. Well done everyone.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Saints Red 0-3
Up against the ladder leaders for a third time this hockey season, and with a 0-8 result in the last encounter, Newtown Spirit could have been forgiven for being pessimistic. However, with the team showing great form and excellent teamwork in recent matches, Spirit began the game well. Our hopes were a little dented when Saints scored two goals in the first 10 minutes. However, this did not keep us down for long, and excellent proactive defence by Andie, Tracey and Beth met the Saints attacks early and created many delays for Saints and turnovers to the advantage of our team. Great running and thoughtful passing by our forwards saw Peta, Deb, Georgie, Claudia and Maryanne moving the ball into attack.
Some early passages of play through the middle limited the penetration of our attacks but later passages using the wings with midfield backup from Kellie were more effective. Saints continued to attack consistently, and at one stage Spirit defended about 6 penalty corners in a row, keeping the ball out of goal on each occasion. This persistence and determined defence from Tracey, Hillary, Kellie, Bron, Hannah, Beth, Andie and Emma, with support from Peta, Kirsty and Isabel frustrated Saints and kept them scoreless until they finally scored their third goal in the last few minutes of the game. An excellent game from all players, and a very pleasing effort.
Senior Men
Newtown Spirit vs Saints 1 0-6
It was always going to be a tough game against the top Division 1 team and with a few players out leaving us with a straight 11 it added to the challenge. For the first 15 minutes we were able to maintain the line with neither team scoring until Saints were able to put through four goals in quick sucession.
During the half time break we discussed what was and wasn’t working, coming out determined to limit any further goals and hopefully score some ourselves. Unfortunately, us scoring didn’t happen but we did grind out an exceptional defensive second half limiting Saints to one regular goal and a second questionable one.
All up, couldn’t be more proud of the boys this week, would have been very easy to drop our heads and throw in the towel at half time. Next week promises to be another challenging game vs Geelong Blue.
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong 1 1-5
A great effort by Strikers against a Division 1 team, showing some great endeavour and teamwork. Goal scored by Tom C.
