With the school holidays marking the midpoint of this hockey season, there were no junior games this week. But our senior teams were out there giving their all – in difficult circumstances for some.
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 0-2
Senior Men
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 7 – 0
Finally a result that represents the quality hockey that Spirit have been playing over the past few months. Apart from two stellar individual goals scored by Luke and Tom P, the rest were on the backs of plays that began at the back line, worked through the midfield and culminated in the forwards putting the ball in the back of the net.
Though Golden Plains put up a tough fight, the pressure that Newtown applied tirelessly throughout the game never gave the opposition a chance to control the game, forcing a number of mistakes which we were able to capitalize on.
This weekend we play Corio for a second time which will be a great opportunity to see how far we’ve come this hockey season.
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay 1 2-15
We were expecting a tough match against last years Division 1 Premiers. We thought we were going to win the game at one point (by forfeit) when Torquay ran onto the field with only 6 players but they were saved at the last minute by a seventh player running onto the pitch. We had 11 players (no bench) but that was enough to give us the ascendancy for a few minutes until Torquay’s eighth player arrived which had a dramatic impact on the game. Before we knew it they sneaked in 4 goals and suddenly we had 2 players injured and unable to play. We struggled against Torquay’s speed and attack on the ball but battled and still created plenty of opportunities to score. There were plenty of learnings from the game and this young team will certainly bounce back for their next big game.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 2-1 (game abandoned)
Newtown Spirit carried its good team play from the previous round into this game, and demonstrated some great linking play between the midfield and the forward line. Solid defence by Kylie and Tracey got the ball out of danger with Andie, Hannah and Beth creating space to move play forward. Good midfield marking and confident play did not allow Torquay to capitalise on opportunities. Newtown’s first goal came from a quick free pass by Katie, which reached Georgie on the lead, and then Grace, playing her first senior game, was in the right spot on the far post to tip the ball in for a goal. Charlie, Deanne and Peta also found good space in attack and with some excellent passes to players leading well, Deanne was our second goal scorer.
But the rain started just as half time began, and it didn’t stop. We took the field again for a couple of minutes after half time but the rainstorm was so strong that the pitch was underwater and sections of it were floating. With the agreement of all, the game was abandoned, and will be rescheduled.