WEST GIPPSLAND HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

PRELIMINARY FINALS 2007

In beautiful Spring conditions, teams vied for the honour of playing in the Grand Final game of next week. The Preliminary Finals were all hotly contested, with some brilliant play displayed for the large group of spectators.

Under 11.

Aztecs (3) Def Gulls (2)

Dominating the first half Gulls showed great skills by using great strength. Sam Tyson and Luke McWha were on fire and Gabbie Farnham battled hard along side Jamie McWha and Anthony Claxton. The second the Gulls lost their momentum and Aztecs gradually wore them down. Jack Farnham did a fantastic job to keep the score down.

Under13:

Drouids 1 def Aztecs 0

This was a hard fought game with Drouids scoring the only goal of the match. Chris Cooper was omnipresent on the field - throwing himself into the contest whenever possible. Dylan Brown was dependable in both attack and defense and was supported by strong straight hitting from Ryan Ward. Aztecs had many opportunities to score in the second half - working well as a team and manning-up with their opposition players - but a strong Drouids defense and a fickle pitch prevented conversion. A grand finale for the Aztecs under 13’s, great effort all players and special thanks to coach Brian Taylor.

Under 15

Gulls (1) Def Drouids (0)

Fast flowing game from both sides saw Gulls sneak in a single goal to win by Ashley Gaylard. We saw great improvement from Melinda Kemp with her fantastic running and ball skills. Wes Dowel ran hard all game going where ever he was needed and Michael Wyhoon also played a fantastic game moving forward all the time despite being sick all week. Brooke Wearne played her best game for the season and Aubrey Gaylard played a very skillful game. 

Drouids played fantastic hockey in their preliminary final against Gulls. Right from the start all players showed desperation and a keen desire to follow coach Jevan Leggett’s instructions to ‘man up, watch your player and pass wide’. Drouids backs Lizzie and Kate Christian, Julian Hannah, Bronte Hobson, Evan Urquhart, Leah Holgate, Sam Stenson, Aaron Calder and dynamic GK Michael Dobson  were magnificent in the way they shut down the dangerous Gulls forwards whilst providing numerous passes to the forwards.

The midfielders were dangerous all day. Dylan Thomson, Clare Wiglesworth, Brayden Hatfield, Nicole Cooper, Luke Jamieson, Dean Gallagher and Penny Johnson ran hard to position all day and put the Gulls backs under intense pressure for most of the second half in particular, narrowly missing 3 or 4 goals.

This young team has come a long way since round 1 in its skills development, fitness and team cohesion. Full credit to Jevan for the time he has devoted each week coaching and taking training. It was terrific to see so many players attend training each Thursday. Thanks also to team manager Chris Urquhart for his efforts each Saturday and to parents for your support!

Under 17:

Womens:

Aztecs 1 drew Gulls Gold 1.

Aztecs fought valiantly in attack but found it difficult to penetrate Gold’s defence. Alicia Wood-Davies, Rowena and Penni Beck were tireless in their tackling and never gave up throughout the game. Jan Park and Cassie Jolley were great support to them with solid backing up and strong hitting. Gabrielle Higgins ran after everything and Jackie Mowat had a good run up the field from the backline. Bonnie James and Colleen Crookston played well on the wings and made excellent position. Mel Crookston, in the right place at the right time, scored the only goal from a great pass from Alicia. Good luck next week girls. Think positively!

On a very warm day the Gulls Gold girls played with a great deal of determination and might. Lynette Anderson had a controlled push into goal scoring Gulls Gold’s only goal for the entire game. The game was still a drew after the siren, then with extra time on it was still a score so due to being lower on the ladder so they didn’t make it through. Well done girls, many thanks and also a huge thanks to the under 15 players who played with us during the season

Mens.

Gulls def Drouids 3 – 2.

A fiercely contested battle between long time rivals Gulls and Drouids saw Gulls closely win the game 3 – 2 after each team had been awarded a stroke during the game of which Gulls were able to capitalise with but unfortunately Drouids weren’t.  It was a goal for goal game with Gulls able to maintain the lead in the last 15minutes to win the game to put them into the Grand final next week. Consistent efforts from Steve Grigoleit, Justin Ballantye, Chris Miles and a fantastic effort to defend the stroke – Adam Horne. Goal scorers on the day were Ben Hallyburton, Ben Sandy and Michael Ballantyne (from stroke) all 1 each.