Summer hockey planning is underway.  A significant indoor hockey program will be on offer,  as well as the introduction of some exciting new summer hockey that will run on Wednesday at Farm Rd during Oct- Dec.  Hockey sixers is one of the offerings that will be happening at Farm Rd on Wednesday night. More information to come soon. Unsure what hockey sixers is? Check it out  here
Stay tuned, and don’t worry if you have not played before, we have something for you as well.

This week Hockey across Victoria celebrated diversity and a “Fair Go”. It was great to see our teams and social media support this great initiative, as much as the words we say are important our actions are more important, we need to do as we say, something we do well, but we should never let our standards drop.

A reminder that an up to date list of results so far and teams standings is available here with a round by round summary and a match by match details here.

Each year Hockey Australia select a National Junior Squad. The athletes chosen for the National Junior Squad are selected following thorough assessment over the course of 2016 and 2017 camps, along with the Under 18 and Under 21 Australian Championships.  The aim of the National Junior Squad is to develop athletes so that they are able to progress through the ranks to the National Development Squad, followed by the Hockey Australia High Performance Program.

It is with great pride and excitement we as a club congratulate Nathan Ephraums selection in this elite group.  Nathan has also been selected in the National Junior team to defend the Sultan of Johor Cup in October.   It seems timely to quote from the 2009 End of Year report for the Under 11 shield team “Up front Nathan Ephraums was an absolute star, scoring some of the most amazing goals and dominating the competition.”   For more details of this exciting news see Hockey Australian Announcement .

The National Futures squad has also been updated following the Under 21 Australian Championships with now five players from the club included: Olivia Downes, Nathan Ephraums Amy Lawton, Brad Marais, and Josh Mulder. Congratulations Brad on your inclusion.

The premier league teams visited Altona for the Fair Go round.

The men’s teams were suffering from injuries and outs.  The reserves started the afternoon going down 1-4,. In the men’s firsts Altona fifth, playing Southern sixth resulting in a 3-3 draw. It was a tight game with Altona scoring in the last minute from a penalty corner. Not quite the result that was hoped for.

Expectations were high for the women’s game with Southern eleven points ahead on the ladder. But to quote Shange Peachey from the Pennant A game the week before  “We all know, Altona is a proud club, and does not like to lose in front of their home crowd”, the  Altona women came out strong and would not give in winning 4-1.  The women’s reserves did the club proud taking the points.

With three rounds of juniors to go, some teams are fighting for a position in the four, other trying to get the preferred top spot, and other working hard to finish the season stronger than they started.

In the dim light of Waverley on Friday night, the under 14 mixed shield played a very frustrating game for players and spectators alike. The Southern shield team was third on the ladder equal with fourth and only two points ahead fifth, so every game counts. Last time they two met Southern took the points with a 5-0 win. With Waverley five players down and filling from the under 12 mixed shield team, the result was quite different. Although Southern had most of the play, the Southern players struggled to get the ball in the net. The one penalty corner for Waverley saw them have results just before the first half. The second half continued with once again Southern having all the play, but no score, giving Waverley a 1-0 win.

The Under 16 mixed pennant are fifth on the ladder, and unable to make finals, but want to show that they are unlucky. The 5-1 win over Waverley was a similar result to the last game, giving the team a good reason to sing strong.

The under 16 mixed shield game was always going to be a showdown. Southern  2nd on the ladder, one point behind Waverley, this game meant everything, and the Southern players did not disappoint. Not the speed and spectacular game of the previous week, but the result was achieved with a 3-1 win.

The under 14 mixed pennant are having a great season, fourth on the ladder under the guidance of the Chris Silvers, and Pim Okhuizen. The boys had a loss last weekend against top of the ladder Brumbies, and with four point separating them from fifth they did have a bit of leeway when they played third on the ladder Mornington on Friday night, but didn’t need it, beating morning 3-0 with goals from Kester, Markus and Charlie.  There was some great play in the game, Kester teaming up to show the best way to get a goal past a keeper is with a great deflection, and then Will McNess showing a great defender is worth their weight in gold. With a high ball going in to goal, a great cricket shot would have scored an amazing four as he belted it away to the sideline. Great work guys.

At Farm Rd, the Under 14 girls shield also played a 1v2 round against Waverley, where our girls were first on the ladder, and unbeaten. Sadly the girls had their first loss of the season, with four points separating them coming in to the game the Southern girls keep top spot, and hopefully should keep that over the next two rounds.
               Under 14 girls supporting Fair Go Sport

Warren had to hand the reins over to Julian on Friday night for the Under 16 south red game against Bayside, and Julian kept the momentum going with a 3-0 win over Bayside. The team showed Julian what a great gang they are with their team play and hard work. The under 16 south black played an undermanned Dandenong and beat them 15-0.  The under 16 mixed south continues to be close with our red and black teams fighting each other for the spot in the four.  Red does have the easier last two games, but time will tell.

The under 18 competition as always is a mix of levels.  Both Burra and Southern remain undefeated, with Southern having three draws and Burra two and keeping first they are  second spot on the ladder warm. The game again finished in an appropriate draw  2-2. With the competition going the way it is we are likely to see that match up again twice more in the season during the finals.

Under 14 mixed south had a tough time in their game against St Bedes. Thanks Puck and Zoe for helping out from under 12.

On Saturday morning our under 12 shield teams visited SNHC for their games against Greensborough.  The mixed shield led by Steve Hoult filling in for Warren played in a 4 v 5 match, where Burra was on equal points, lower goal difference than Southern, and the boys did not disappoint.  Four nil up after 12 minutes, and finished with a 6-1 win.  A hat trick for Max and Alex scoring not only his first goal for the season, but two in the game.   The girls continue their great season taking the points in their match.

The under 12 mixed pennant keep on working their hearts out, going down 2-0 to Mentone. While under 12 south had another very close game 2-1 down to Mornington. The under 12 girls pennant had a similar result against Mornington 0-1.

In the under 10 half field the under 10 girls with Alice and Laura coaching had another great game with a 6-0 win over Mentone. The under 10 boys with Michael Gow coaching had a great game beating Mentone 4-0. The boys have had a great season showing improvement every week. Thanks to the under 10 quarter field, and a few under 12s who have been helping out these teams over the last weeks with a few players having departed Australian sunny shores.

A challenging round for the men’s teams with a few too many injuries.

Pennant A had the short straw with their game at SNHC. With many outs the team was not a full strength and went down 6-4 to Essendon. Down 6-2 at half time, great work by the guys to get back in to the game.  With not too much damage to their goal difference PA drop to 5th. Thanks to Jelly for doubling up in to pennant A, scoring a goal and then rushing back to Farm Rd for the pennant D game.

The men’s team took over Farm Rd on Saturday afternoon with Pennant F, E, D and Metro B taking the field. 

Pennant F started the afternoon with a 11-0 win over an undermanned 9th on the ladder Footscray, keeping their top position on the ladder nicely, and helping the score difference.

Pennant E followed playing Greensborough.  With Southern 3rd well above 4th, and Greensborough 8th
the game was surprisingly tight, but as time progressed the Southern family team with Erbachers, Harveys, Fishers and Eddingtons took hold taking the points 5-3. 
 

The Pennant D team had a horror game the previous week against top of the ladder Essendon, but were determined to redeem themselves against third on the ladder PEGS. And that they did, with  Ted and Liam doubling up from Pennant E with Simon and Dylan away and the Layzells in fine form – Andrew’s work in the D is really something to watch. A 5-3 win keeping their fourth on the ladder.

 

The Metro B team played St Bedes for the third time this year, not sure how that actually happened, and were determined to help the under 14 mixed shield players after their loss  last night, that they did  with a 6-0 win over St Bedes.

The women’s metro A team continued their huge season with a 2-0 win over Waverley, with Hope scoring off a stroke, then field goal.

The women’s Pennant B team are in the four, and need to keep working on that, only four points ahead of fifth.  A game against bottom of the ladder Footscray game them a 1-0 win to help and may be enough. They have a tough last three rounds against the other teams in the top four.

Women’s pennant F who had such a great start to the season have not quite hit the wins in the last three games, this time going down to Melbourne Uni. Their huge wins early on have kept them third on the ladder, and fourteen points ahead of fifth they are solidly in the four.