There were some great match results this weekend as we head toward the end of the 2022 hockey season. Well done everyone.
Highlight of the round – excellent work by ‘Team Baker’, with Graeme as coach, Grace and Isabel on the field and 12 year old Charlotte in goals. Fantastic game by Charlotte, who had to defend her first penalty stroke ever, and then had to do it twice in the one game! And in a Division 1 game no less!! 
Under 8 Mixed
Newtown Navigators vs Newtown Strikers
A very wet day for hockey, but the players showed great determination and perseverance. The improvement in skills is evident each week, and the excellent teamwork makes for a good game to watch.
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia
Great work by Spirit, with some good concentration and great teamwork. Quick movement of the ball allowed Spirit to make ground and create forward momentum. Well done to all.
Under 10 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 7-1
Under 12 Mixed
Newtown Spirit Vs Kardinia 1-5
Kardinia was on the ball scoring the 1st goal with the ball being in there half most of the 1st half. Bella ended up getting the ball over to Hamish then Hamish got it back over to Bella with the ball being in the Spirit half Bella ended up getting a goal. With our full back Ved, Patrick and James in goalkeeper doing their best in the 1st half being 1 all.
Second half Kardinia came out fighting by this time spirit was all tired as we only had 8 players. Everyone played an excellent game and tried so hard. Kardinia ended up winning 5-1.
Thanks to Lucy and James for filling in for Spirit.
Newtown Strikers – Bye
Under 14 Mixed
Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia White 2-1
After several weeks without a game Spirit were eager to get back on the pitch again. Unfortunately, Kardinia had a lively start to game and were first two score within the first 5 minutes. Spirit were quick to regroup and didn’t waste any time putting the pressure back onto Kardinia. The team fell into their positions beautiful and had some beautiful flowing hockey up and down the wings. It was great to see all of the team involved in the play and applying the drills they had learned in training. Before too long they were rewarded with a goal.
In the second half both teams were eager for the win and the hockey was end to end. Madden made some important saves to keep the scores level. Spirit played really well as a team, using all of the available space and getting in some great passes. It was neck and neck right up until the final five minutes when a beautiful goal from Amelia from the top of the circle clinched the game for Spirit. Great job team – a lovely example of working together as a team to get the job done!
Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Rebels 10-0
It was a real welcome back to winter hockey today, with a wet Saturday morning of hockey!
We managed to get most of the Strikers team back this week, getting 10 players on the pitch. The wet weather made for a tough slog, with hits not able to travel far, meaning ball movement was better with balls on sticks.
It was nice to see great ball movement and players making good position for almost the entire game, and our ball movement improved as the game went on. Our defence was strong, running back to defend the breakaway runs from the Rebels midfielders was very good.
Brandon was making good position out wide on the wing all game, and as his calling got louder, the opportunities started to come, finishing with 3 second half goals. A reward for his good position, but also highlighting the impact from nice loud timely calls. Surry had a great game back, scoring goals in both halves of the match, and his brother Will also chipping in with a goal.
The highlight of the game was probably towards the end of the match when Strikers were awarded a stroke. The team all encouraged Kashvi to come up from full back to have a turn at taking a stroke. The encouragement and pointers Kashvi got from both teams on her way to the spot was very nice to see. Kashvi got a nice push to the corner getting what I think might have been her first winter hockey goal.
Under 17 Mixed
Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia 6-5
On Sunday Strikers played a tight match against Kardinia. We had a few players missing again this week so 11 on the pitch and no subs. Kardinia had no goalkeeper.
The opening minutes of the game set the scene for the rest of the match with hotly contested possessions split evenly between both sides. A bit of a stalemate was broken with a running goal by Harry B. Kardinia pressed our defence with long passes and running that had us scrambling to stay composed. Several missed shots on goal could have easily gone their way and some handy work by Madden stopped others. Eventually they evened the score from a short corner but not without an eyewatering defensive effort by Nate, who didn’t just put himself on the line but that of future generations of Harding’s. Play continued at a high level of intensity, both teams testing defenders with fast breaks. Kardinia, with no goalie, played a full back deep who stopped numerous certain goals and fed the ball back down the pitch with long hard hitting. This was working well for Kardinia until Lara intervened. On a large Kardinia backswing to send the ball back up the pitch Lara managed, in a reflex action, to get her stick perfectly positioned for a great deflection into the net. It was the ultimate display of turning defence into offense. Cheers around the pitch seemed to set off a spark in Lara and she celebrated with an upright starfish. Scores at half time were 3-2 Newtown.
We started the second half full of running and good passing. One passage of play saw Harry B take the ball from a few metres off the backline all the way down the pitch to score. Not a good demonstration of passing, but a great effort to get us a goal when it was really needed. Kardinia continued to defend well and started to gain more momentum as the half progressed, keeping our midfielders on their toes with penetrating passes to forwards who were running the ball around the base of the D and sending it across the goal face. They succeeded with this strategy to take the score to 5-4 then, with only 5 minutes left, evened the score at 5 all. We managed to regroup and with only a few minutes left pushed forward aggressively to get a short corner. It was a Harry-fest with a pass from Harry B to Harry W resulting in a goal that gave us a 6-5 victory.
A well-deserved win. Thanks to Madden who filled in as our goalie and Luke and Georgia from U17 Spirit.
Newtown Spirit – Bye
Division 1 Women
Newtown Falcons vs Geelong 0-2
Another week with multiple players unavailable, thank you to Georgie (from D2), and Aimee for stepping in. With both goalies unavailable, Charlotte Baker stepped into the goals for her first game for the Falcons, the first time all three Baker sisters have played on the same team!
Charlotte did a great job in goals, saving all the field shots on goal, and the short corner attempts. Unfortunately, we gave away 2 penalty strokes. Given these are the first Charlotte has had to defend, she did very well. She learnt from the first stroke conversion and managed to get a leg guard on the second stroke, unfortunately it still just scraped inside the post.
The Falcons played well in the wet, the ball not travelling like it usually does across the surface, given the water on the pitch. As the game went on, we started using the ball better, running with the ball on our sticks, and passing out in front for our wings and mids to run onto. We got some shots on goal, due to this very nice ball movement. Our defence was again strong, mostly keeping the Geelong team out of the D, and limiting their score opportunities when they went inside, forcing most of their entries out wide. Our channelling of the Geelong forwards was a highlight today.
Well done Falcons.
Division 2 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Geelong Blue 9-0
Division 2 Women
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong 6-0
The extra space created by Geelong missing a couple of players allowed Newtown Strikers to control the game, with some excellent use of space and great passing to people in good position. Tash was busy at both ends of the field, scoring a penalty corner goal with a cracking shot. But when the ball headed to our defensive zone, Tash was also there to cut off the attack and return play to Newtown’s advantage. Claire in goals managed to edge out a couple of shots at goal from Geelong but was largely untroubled, as the solid defence from Kirsty, Tash, Hannah and Charlotte did not allow Geelong to create any major threats in front of goals. Great work by Deb and Kate, swapping between midfield and forward positions, saw them mark their opposition well and slow down any progress toward the goal by Geelong.
The second half saw Newtown continue to pile on the pressure, and pile on the goals too. Grace showed some great speed and good ball control, and got herself in the right spot in front of goal on a number of occasions. Sarah, Georgie and Peta provided plenty of options for co-operation with team mates, both in giving and receiving passes to move the ball into attack.
The flexibility and adaptability of the Strikers players is proving to be of great benefit, with many players swapping easily between defence and attack and creating a positive outcome for the team. Keep up the good work as we head toward the finals!
