Under 8
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay
With the sun beaming down on King Lloyd Reserve the U8’s were keen after a good warm up from Claire. Paddy started strongly with some great runs forwarded and scoring. Victoria and Dot kindly helped out Torquay for a half where they played immensely well – Dot did some great tackles and Victoria did some great passing forward. Alexis and Grace made some fantastic passes forward and Sophie joined in for the first time in U8’s with some tremendous tackling. As always, Ewan was dogged with his determination and played a good game. Grace was awarded player of the match keeping excellent position on the wing combined with some strong passes forward.
Under 10
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia
With the bare 11 players the U10 Strikers played exceptionally well against Kardinia. Every player was keeping position which enabled some fantastic ball movement down the wings. At halfback Ethan tackled well and developed some great plays down the wing. Multiple goals were scored with some strong attacking play in the circle. At centre half Eddy played a solid game moving the ball from side to side. Up forward Jack, Chelsea, Mitch and Joey all played well with some clean dribbling. Joey and Ethan were awarded player of the matches after they played their best games. All players continue to develop their skills and the team is progressing extremely well. Keep up the great work Strikers.
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 1-0
Under 12
Newtown Strikers vs Torquay 1-0
Strikers had the luxury of a bench this week, with new player Isobel joining the ranks for her first hockey game, as well as Ved and Ruby from U12 Spirit lending a hand. Captain Maia led the team on to the field and Strikers started well with most of the play being in the Strikers attacking end of the field in the first half. Strikers made many entries into the D, especially via Will and Audrey, and were eventually rewarded with a team goal finished off by Harrison.
The second half was more even in play and no more goals were scored. Coach Jane was very pleased with the team, saying everyone had played very well and the only area where the team might have done better was in converting their attacks into goals. A standout was Audrey getting into great positions and advancing the ball up the right wing to goal after receiving well directed passes from both Will and Sofia. Charles also did well with several intercepts in the centre and many strong hits. First gamer Isobel started on the bench, taking pointers from the coach as she watched the team play, and then when she went on to field it was like she has always played hockey. Thanks to Ved and Ruby from U12 Spirit who filled in and who also both made great contributions.
Newtown Spirit Bye
Under 14
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 0-8
With a few players missing this week, Spirit had their work cut out against a full strength Strikers team. Thank you to Kashvi for stepping in to help out. Strikers started the game at a great pace and put the pressure on straight away. Thanks to a few great saves from Madden the scores remained level, until Spirit couldn’t stand up to the Strikers fire power any more. Zac opened the scoring for Strikers with a great strike and what turned out to be one of many goals.
Spirit showed great resilience and stayed in the game right until the end despite the score line. The defence put up a great fight and the midfield and attack were ready to breakaway whenever the chance arose, but just couldn’t convert the opportunities into goals. The team worked very hard as a group and supported each other right till the end with good calling and passing. This week’s players player votes went to Hamish, Charlie, Amelia and Aimee. A tough game to end the first part of the season, but we know the team will come back refreshed and ready to go again after the holiday break.
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 8-0
We almost had a full team this week, with Surry returning from his knee injury. Ivy was still unwell, and we hope to see her back after the break, rest up Ivy. Kashvi helped out Spirit with numbers this week with Spirit missing some players, thanks Kashvi.
The first half was fairly even, with both teams showing good skills, stealing the ball off each other. We got a few shots on goal, but the Spirit goalie was doing a great job, rebounding the ball out for the defenders to clear. As the half went on, we started to move the ball a little better, getting repeat entries into the D, resulting in a short corner, and nice clean shot on goal from Zac getting us on the board. We got a quick turnover at the restart, and a quick run down the middle saw the second goal come from a clever shot from Surry, wrong footing the goalie. Our players were pushing a little high, and Spirit got a few break away runs into attack, but Charlotte did well in goals, rebounding out the shots, with some help from Leo and Anya who had run back hard to help. A quick deflection late in the half, got Zac his second goal.
At half time Kurt spoke to the team about spreading out more and passing the ball around to get around the Spirit defensive wall, and also not getting caught too high.
In the second half we started to move the ball better. Oliver was doing well in defence, stopping the Spirit attacks, and moving the ball out to Will and Max, who provided good link up with Brandon and Matilda out wide. Isabel was breaking through the Spirit defensive line in the middle, with some fast running, and changes in direction. We were pushing into attack more, and good movement of the ball saw Max get on the board, and Zac do several very good deflections, from some excellent hard passes into the D adding to his tally, finishing with 6 of our 8 goals.
This is taking nothing away from the Spirit keeper, who got a pad on multiple of Zac’s deflections, but luck went our way on Saturday, and the balls still scraped into the goals. An excellent effort by Madden, even better when considering it was only Madden’s third game of hockey, second game as keeper, well done Madden! Matilda was positioned well on the post, making it difficult for Spirit to cover both posts, playing a big part in providing Zac his opportunities in the second half.
We were again caught high on several occasions, leaving our goalie one out, at one stage being two on one. This will be something to work on next term. But some attacking keeping from Charlotte, meeting the ball carriers, saw the ball turned over, and rebounded out of defence.
Well done Strikers, great to see your ball movement continue to grow, enjoy the break. Rest up Ivy, we look forward to having you back in Term 3.
Newtown Rebels vs Kardinia Blue 4-0
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Saints 2-2
Another week with multiple players unavailable had us scurrying around to fill the team. Thank you to the D2 players Kate, Georgie, and Charlotte for stepping in. Thanks also to Peta for making yourself available if we didn’t get any players.
This meant we got a full pitch of players. Despite my concerns for numbers pre-game, we had another great game this week. Our star D2 goalie was away with Birthday celebrations, so Grace again decided to step in as D1 goalie for the day and put on her little sister’s goalie gear to good use defending the goals well for us.
Falcons were showing good ball movement, solid defence, and were breaking the lines with our now typical hard running, getting us into attack early. Audrey, Hailey and Isabel all providing great run and movement for the entire game. A highlight of the game was Audrey managing to change direction and run off the Saints centre half on multiple occasions, driving us into attack, a great game from Audrey. We got a late short corner chance in the first quarter, and a fantastic strike from Hailey got us on the board early.
In the second quarter we continued to run and move the ball, but Saints got through our defences to square up the score line. Right on the half time whistle we again got a short corner, and a great deflection from Scarlett getting onto the rebounding ball, got us back in front at half time. Some great positioning by Scarlett the entire day.
In the second half we were caught out at times trying to hit our way through the defensive wall, possibly a sign of missing so many of our regular team over the last couple of games. Charlotte, Kate and Georgie all had very big contributions for D1 on Saturday. Charlotte was strong in defence, working well with Ainsley, Beth and Georgia, making a solid wall. Georgia has developed into a great half back for D1, helping to lighten the load on Beth and Ainsley, and Charlotte was a great addition to the defensive group for the game.
Kate and Georgie provided great link up play, and lots of good positioning. Even more excellent considering they were doubling up. Hailey doing a great job stepping into centre half (with Alex away), linking up play with Emily and Scarlett out on the wings, both positioning well, and moving us forward.
The second half was very even, with many of our runners showing the signs of all the early running. Saints got multiple shots on goal, but we were defending well. Saints got a shot on goal and squared the score board. Falcons kept pushing hard, and we entered the attacking D on several occasions, but were just not quite able to convert. The Saints defenders foxing us on a few occasions, shielding us from getting to the lose ball, and letting it go over the back line. Something for us to work on at training.
Our defenders and goalie were having to do a lot of work late, and saving quite a few short corners, and field play shots by the Saints forwards. Right on the full time whistle we got our last short corner. Our setup was good, and were very close to getting the win, but the Saints defenders managed to get the ball deflected over the back line, to end the game on a draw. Well done Falcons, it is really great to see you all continue to develop and grow as a team.
Division 2 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Geelong Blue 0-11
Newtown went into the game as heavy underdogs having only seven players. But what we lacked in numbers, we made up for in determination. Much of the game was played in our defensive 25, punctuated by long balls from full back and some blistering runs from Harry and Ollie. We defended doggedly, clearly frustrating Geelong and were only three goals down at half time. Marty was solid in goals making many strong saves.
We were also spurred on by our ‘eighth man’ (Ollie’s Dad) who was a great support on the sidelines. We enjoyed the banter (mostly friendly from the opposition) even learning that this newsletter has readers outside of Newtown Hockey Club. If we can field a full line-up in the second half of the season, we will be competitive.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Strikers vs Saints Red 1-3
