Round 4 of this hockey season saw some very summery weather, which meant hard work maintaining the pace for many teams, but the continued effort was fantastic.
Highlight of the week this week was the first win for this hockey season for the U12 Spirit team. After a couple of tough matches, the team still came out and gave it everything they had.
Under 8 Mixed
Newtown Rebels vs Golden Plains
Newtown Rebels played Golden Plains on Saturday. We were a couple of players short and were very lucky to have Paige fill in for the team and she played really well. In the first half, she made a couple of great passes and was in great position, and Manny scored two goals with great focus on the play. Isaac, one of our youngest players, showed great commitment in chasing and defending.
In the second half, Albie made some really good tackles, and Lenny scored a goal. Paige continued to show her skills, made a good tackle and a nice dribble. Newtown Rebels are really showing some good team work, and listening to Claire’s instructions to spread out to make space for passes. Well played everyone! Thanks to Lenny and Manny for each playing a half for Golden Plains, continuing the great sportsmanship shown by this team.
Paige was the deserving winner of the Subway award for the game.
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia
This week Newtown Strikers faced up against Kardinia and they managed to keep Kardinia scoreless, whilst scoring many goals themselves. The standout feature in the first half was the good calling and great passing up the wings and into attack by Strikers, leading to several shots at goal. Other great things to see were the tackles made by Lucy, and Josien cutting off a pass from defence and being rewarded with a goal.
Strikers didn’t slow down in the second half, with lots of running from the whole team. Audrey scored a goal after great passing play by the team. Josien also made a great tackle on the goal line and pushed the ball into the goals, and Charlie ran hard into goal for a successful deflection.
Coach Maggie was very happy with the team, especially with their passing. This week’s awards Subway and Best Team Player Awards went to Audrey and Charlie.
Newtown Spirit – Bye
Under 10 Mixed
Newtown Strikers v Geelong College 5-0
Strikers lined up for their 4th round match against Geelong College who were playing their first game of this hockey season. From the first push back Strikers were dominating play and field position. To Geelong College’s credit, they defended valiantly with several on the line saves to deny the Strikers attack. Strikers continued to build on last week’s performance using width and depth which was rewarded with a goal before half time.
The second half saw more improvement with terrific ball movement and positional play allowing great passing sequences netting a further 4 goals. Harrison played a great game with fantastic enthusiasm and Zac used his elite hitting skills to break open the game to allow teammates space to attack behind defensive lines.
Goal scorers Zac (3) and Will B (2). Subway and Best Team Player Awards to Zac and Harrison
Newtown Spirit vs GBS Black 5-1
Newtown Spirit got off to a flying start this week with a great run from Michael straight off the opening whistle. The first half continued at pace with some great passing from Spirit and amazing team work. It was great to see everyone working hard to find space and get the ball outside of the congested centre of the pitch. Spirit kept up the pressure right through the first half and a goal from Matilda saw them take the lead.
After lots of running in the first half in the warm conditions, the second half was a bit slower but the great passing continued and the Spirit defence played well together to keep the opposition at bay. Three goals from George and another from Matilda saw Spirit take home the win.
Under 12 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Rebels 1-1
The kids all came together well again this week. We started with only 9 on the field, but luckily Rebels were very kind and loaned us Brayden, bringing the numbers up to be 10 on 10. All the kids continued to run hard this week, and spreading around the field, back to the form that got us the win in week 2.
With people away, Amber dropped back in defence, and did a great job with Thamindu keeping a solid back line defence, both teaming up well with Mai to stop many forward thrusts and spread the ball wide out of defence. Isabel, Scarlett and Sam provided plenty of run out of the back line, with Charlie dropping back to help when the heat was on. Chloe and Brayden provided great link play, running the lines, and helping to bring the ball up the field, linking in with Kye to get the ball into dangerous positions in the forward line, where Sam, Charlie and Brayden all got shots on goal. At half time the kids came in looking exhausted, with the scores reflecting the game at 0-0.
It was very pleasing to see the kids keep running in the second half, especially the midfield, who had done plenty of two way running in the first half. After fighting hard in defence, the kids were a little unlucky with a rebound, and Rebels got on the scoreboard.
Strikers didn’t drop their heads and kept pushing hard. Some good composed play through the middle saw us again pushing forward, getting a couple of short corners, and we were very close to scoring, with the ball at one stage bouncing off the post. Strikers kept running hard, some great change of direction with her running saw Isabel run the ball out of defence, and put the ball into the middle, linking up with Sam, and Brayden, again pushing us forward. Some good work in the D saw a pass get to Charlie, who got a shot through the defence, and we had levelled the scoreboard. The kids kept running hard and looked dangerous right up to the final whistle. In the end a fitting final score of 1-1.
Newtown Rebels vs Newtown Strikers 1-1
Rebels had a fast, furious and high-quality game against Strikers this weekend. The final result of 1:1 was indicative of the closeness of the two teams.
The first half was a tight affair with a lot of hard running to defend the fast breaks from the Strikers. Our defenders worked very hard to keep Strikers at bay, with Isla showing some fancy footwork as the goalie to keep one good opportunity out. Our attacks on goal were well constructed with Rebels moving the ball well to the top of the D. Rach reminded the team to make sure they keep running deep into the D to create pressure on the defenders and get rebound opportunities.
The second half was a similarly fast paced affair, with Perri breaking the deadlock to score, the result of a good team effort to force the ball forward.
Elliot was voted as the MVP in this game for her positioning as a deep full back, often clearing the ball away from goal whilst under pressure. A great game of Hockey played in tremendous spirit.
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 3-1
Both teams were evenly matched during the game and with both teams without a GK there was plenty of pressure on defenders. Golden Plains scored the first goal after a number of skilled attacks vs Newtown. Leo, Ruben and Charlotte were brilliant in defence and kept intercepting Golden Plains’ passes, assisting a great team effort seeing Hamish score our first goal for the season and his personally – what a goal! Ruben, who did not want to play as GK in goalie gear ended up being a goal keeper saving many Golden Plains chances.
Spirit had many contributors on the day with Grace F, Emma, Emme, Sam and Bella getting into good positions on the field as it is important we go into attack out wide to the wings. Emma R showed great stick skill with a number of forward runs and scored our second goal to go 2-1 up at half time (thanks for filling in Emma).
The 2nd half was very exciting as Golden Plains had double figures in Penalty Corners to ours NIL and Spirit defence continued to deny them off the post, last second deflections or out wide so it was certainly our day. Nate had a great game as Captain and led the way on PC defence too. ‘Sticks on the ground’ was a popular call from the bench and defence turned to attack on many occasions and one with Grace M scoring our 3rd goal which was awesome for the team. Well done team.
Under 14 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia White 1-5
Spirit had a tough match against Kardinia who piled on the pressure from the opening whistle. Our defenders held up well until around midway through the half when Kardinia finally broke through and scored. Spirit hit back with some excellent passing out wide and great teamwork through Amber, Grace and Claudia to give us our first real scoring opportunity. Matilda finished off the good work to even the score at 1 all. Kardinia replied with 2 goals in quick succession and put Spirit firmly on the back foot.
Mitchell, Adam & Thomas had their work cut out in defense under huge pressure and playing out of their usual positions. Mai, under siege from the Kardinia forwards, made a great save when the ball came in hot from a short corner.
At the half time break with the score at 1-3, coach Darren stressed the need for our defenders to force the ball out wide to avoid giving the Kardinia forwards an easy angle at the goals.
Our defense was kept under pressure in the second half with most of the play on the sad side of the centre. Izzy and Claudia teamed up well on the wing with Izzy at times displaying skillful ball control to keep possession. Kardinia scored 2 further goals and took a well-deserved 5-1 win. Well done Spirit for a valiant effort.
Thanks to Claudia for filling in this week with 3 of our players away at the Junior Country Championships. Thanks also to Deanne for stepping in as team manager (and providing me with scant detail and dubious ‘factual’ information on which to base this report).
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Blue 0-4
Strikers came up against the in form Kardinia Blue team on Saturday. Despite a number of great saves from goalkeeper Ollie, Kardinia set up some good play and managed to score. Tom and Max were relentless in defence and Oskar was persistent in chasing down the ball and applying pressure. Kate played a focussed, consistent game and some terrific passes and great running with the ball gave Strikers a few chances to score but Kardinia’s defence was too strong.
Under 17 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 6-0
What an exciting game playing our other Newtown Team for our last sunny autumn day. Both sides were down on players but still managed to play a fierce game. Spirit stood their ground early against determined Strikers and at times pushed deep into attack to prevent Strikers in gaining any goals. Spirit worked tirelessly across the midfield giving several players control to gain our brilliant first goal 15 minutes into the game by Tom from the half circle. Then slowly but surely Spirit gained the upper hand controlling the ball to gain yet another goal straight after by Tom then later another excellent goal by Harri. New player Mason managed to show some talent to support the Spirit Team before leaving at half time, where the score was 3-0.
Spirit manage to dominate in the second half and were too strong for Strikers, where there was vigorous contest for the ball. Harley and Max gained lots of possessions to support Tom and Ethan on several occasions, along with Mitchell’s sheer determination. Bailey claimed some great defending skills along with Angus, and Caleb to prevent Strikers from achieving any goals. Spirit managed to earn a number of short corners to give scoring opportunities and brilliant goals each to Harri, Ethan and Tom, which gave us our final score.
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 0-6
Newtown Strikers played Newtown Spirit on Sunday in a friendly though competitive game. Strikers faced a strong opposition who were able to score well through some very good passing sequences and individual play. There were however, many positives to be taken from the game. Our fullbacks played up to put pressure on the opposition and support our attacking play. We were also a player down for the first half which tested the team physically and all players put in and ran hard. Thanks to Mason for swapping teams and playing for us in the second half. Spirit scored 3 goals in the first half and another 3 in the second half to win the game 6:0 at the final whistle.
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Saints 1-3
Falcons lined up for the second time this season to play Saints with a similar line up to the first game. In the first go around Falcons met defeat with a 0-4 result, played a full roster allowing for some rest and struggled to get past the goalkeeper. By start of game, with two double ups, Claire and Georgie, from Division Two, Falcons had 11 Warriors determined to do their best and they did not disappoint. With the only rest relief to come by swapping for a time with a teammate, each and every Falcon played with grit and dogged determination. The game was well contested with a lot of mid zone play, when Saints would get into the Falcons defensive zone the ladies created a strong defense with forwards and mids helping back, with very few penalty corners allowed and none that resulted in a goal against.
Of the three goals Saints got it was from field play and usually a result of transition that occurred in the attacking zone with players pushed up the field and where Saints, upon gaining possession released the ball quickly up field. While we did a good job of making the first stop and kill the play, Saints’ quick use of ball eventually caught us with numerical disadvantage in our defensive 25. With similar resolve showed in the final 12 minutes of the Torquay game, Falcons once again mustered energy and focus to open the field up and score one to break the goose egg on our side of the score board. With still time to get more scores on the board, Falcons did apply pressure but couldn’t add to the tally. What a terrific team effort, with everyone leaving it all on the field. Congrats to Astrid, Charley, Claire, Emily, Emma, Georgie, Hailey, Maggie, Siobhan, Xanthia, and Deb on a fantastic game.
Division 2 Men
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 7-0
Continuing the run of form that Spirit have been having, we were able to apply pressure throughout the game, creating a large number of scoring opportunities and forcing mistakes from the opposition which we were able to capitalise on.
We’ve got some tough games coming up which will be a chance to gauge where we are within the competition, regardless of the opposition we’ll give it our best.
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong Blue 0-2
A very warm 25 degree day for late autumn proved to be challenging for Strikers. Geelong scored early in the game from a corner but we were confident that we could claw it back with 2 on the bench and Geelong having no bench in the heat. We controlled the general play better than Geelong and had many entries into our offensive D than they did. However we just could not seem to get through Geelong’s last line of defence.
Geelong managed to put another ball in the net in the second half. We continued to penetrate up forward and had much more offensive play than Geelong in the second half but unfortunately remained scoreless. We will be hungry for a rematch later in the year.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 2-2
Buoyed up by a win in the previous round, Newtown Spirit came out with enthusiasm and purpose. Better use of the wings and square passing allowed Claudia, Isabel and Deb to find space to move into attack, with confident approaches to the ball and pressure on the opposition. Great defence by Bron and Kylie at full back, with Lauren, Andie and Beth meeting the younger opposition early, and making effective passes to team mates.
Newtown scored the first goal, with Georgie showing great determination and good vision, and with Deanne and Katie in good position leading to receive and use team mates in supporting positions.
Torquay rebounded and continued to attack, with lots of play making it to our defensive zone, but slightly misdirected passes did not allow them to capitalise on all their opportunities. They were successful in putting two in the net, but Spirit redoubled their efforts and continued to push forward. With only a few minutes to go, and facing an upcoming operation, Kylie gave it her ‘all or nothing’ effort, and moved into the forward zone to score the equalising goal with less than 1 minute remaining on the clock. A fantastic effort by all with some excellent team play and maximum effort.
Saturday Social
The warm weather also meant it was a lovely day to play some Saturday Social hockey, with having fun being the main aim.
Welcome to Fletcher who joined us for his first game. Great work from Luke, Atticus, Heston, Kate and Claire who worked well together to move the ball into attack. Not to be outdone, the skills and strategy shown by Brett, Audrey, Charlotte, Fletcher and Maryanne were a match and there were many forays into the scoring area at both ends of the field.
