What great matches at Farm Rd on Sunday for our premier league games against Camberwell.  The large crowd gave the day an amazing feel of excitement.

The women’s first played a strong game against Camberwell. Camberwell third on the ladder on 25 points versus Southern’s seven position on 16 points, but the Southern team showed we are to be reckoned with pushing Camberwell to a 2-2 draw with goals to Charley Malligan and Kirsten Gardiner. 

The Men’s firsts had an honour guard of our under 12 boys as part of a celebration on men’s health round. The premier league players have been joining the boys at training over the past few weeks.

The men played a valiant game, nearly getting points on the board, going down 3-2 in a very tight finish. With some late withdrawals it was great to see Pim Okhuizen get his first run in the firsts.

The women’s reserves was a game that is rarely seen. Camberwell played without a goalie with a defender doing an amazing job as kicker back. The Southern girls took the points with a 3-2 win.

The exciting news for the juniors this round was that the under 10 boys half field team had their first win of the season. Great work boys.

As always a big thanks to all the players that doubled up, or changed plans at the last minute to fill in teams.

With most teams now playing teams they have already played this year it is brilliant to see such improvement for our junior team.

The under 14 shield girls team played at Footscray, with the aim of keeping their unbeaten record intact. That they did so with a massive 11-0 win, including 5 goals to Molly O’Neill, and with TEM going down to Camberwell it leaves our girls top of the ladder.

The under 16 girls pennant team had the joy of playing at home and racked up their second win for the season with Jess Grant scoring the goal. Great to see the wins coming now girls. The under 14 south team had a tough game against Dandenong, thanks to Tom, Cameron and Josh for helping out.. The Under 16 south teams played each other. In round 1, black took the points, but the evenness of the two teams is apparent with this time Warren’s red team victors over Greg Edward’s black team. Thanks Jess and Hayley, yet again for doubling up.  Also good to see another couple of players stepping in to goalie kits when short of goalies, thanks Tom and Lachie.

The under 16 mixed pennant team headed to Casey. The game could only be called challenging, although the result 4-0, and the actual play, where it only entered Casey’s D once was not the issue. Awesome work guys keeping your heads down. Erin, thanks for your huge effort, and hope all is well soon. The first round of the season had seen Casey take the point 2-1, so a great change in the result.

Under 14 mixed shield at Hawthorn needed to get a win over TEM and that they did with a 3-2 win with two goals to Lachie Paice and one to Nic Fitzgerald. At Peninsula Hockey Centre the under 14 pennant team who have had a great season so far struggled getting the ball in the net, having with most of the play against Frankston, they went down 3-1. Thanks Ashton for filling in.

Under 18 mixed continue to play strong games, and keep their second on the ladder with a 3-0 win against Knox.

On Saturday morning the under 12 mixed pennant were fired up after their win last week. Playing fourth placed Waverley, the Southern boys showed they will be a force to be reckoned with showing great team work  they went down 1-0.  Under 12 mixed shield had a tough game against Donnie going down 1-3.

Under 12 shield girls played Camberwell for Anna’s last game before she heads back to the Netherlands. When they played first round it was a 1-1 draw, the improvement in our girls was apparent with a 2-1 win this week with goals again to Puck and Taylor. While the under 12 pennant girls at Frankston went down 2-0.

Under 10 half field played at home, and both boys and girls had a win. Great work boys for your first win 3-0 over Waverley, with Charlie Gow scoring all three. Thanks Michael and Marcus for your great coaching so far.  Under 10 girls farewell Zoe heading back to the Netherlands, great for you to finish on a win as well 6-0 over Mentone with the goals scored around the team.  The highlight for me was seeing a group of the under 10 girls welcoming coach Alice off the field on Sunday after her premier league game with a huge hug, just watch she needed I am sure.

Round 9 completed means that the season is half way done… How did that happen??

Pennant E competition has been close with the top 3 – Yarra, Southern, Camberwell with only two points separating the three.  Pennant E played Camberwell to finish the first half of the season going down 3-0 in a game that many will wish to forget. This leaves Pennant E third on the ladder with 3 points on the ladder between 1st and 3rd with 4th seven points behind.

The Pennant F  ladder is also close with Camberwell and Southern on top with 19 points, and only score difference separating them. It was Julian’s second visit to Camberwell for the day after coaching his girls to a win in the morning, and the result was similar with the pennant F taking the three points with a 5-3 win. This gives Pennant F first on the ladder, after half the season, with 5 points between 1st and 4th.

While at Farm Rd on Saturday Pennant D desperate to keep their fourth place on the ladder had a 4-2 win over MCC with old hand and under 12 mixed pennant coach Andrew Layzell returning to the fold. Thanks to the random stranger who brought Jarrad Way to the match after an accident while coming to the game.  Half way through the season Pennant D are fourth on the ladder, with four points separating one and four.

Pennant A struggled to get the momentum required to get the points over Greensborough going down 3-1.

The mosquito squadron and the Metro B team played Mentone in what was a lot closer game than the score showed, with Southern taking the points in a 4-1 win. In Metro B, Bayside is ahead with daylight following, and the following four teams are only separated by 4 points with Southern fourth.

The Metro A team had a strong 6-1 win over Dandenong, this gives Metro A fourth on the ladder, with 4 points separating first and fourth, and then seven points to fifth.

The women’s Pennant B  played Camberwell at Farm Rd on Saturday. The team suffered their first loss last week, and sadly followed going down to Camberwell this week. Despite the two losses Pennant B finished the first half of the season in 2nd place on the ladder, one point ahead of Camberwell.

In the oddities of hockey, there are ten teams in the Pennant F competition, so not all teams have played each other. The pennant F win against TEM, leaves Southern and Caroline Springs with 9 wins after half the season is completed. Next week is the big one, where Southern play Caroline Springs at MEL – which is at Melton. Go ladies.

Metro A ladies continued their amazing season with another win, giving them nine wins in the nine rounds, and are six points ahead of 2nd on the ladder. Metro B were the only team to play on Sunday