Footscray Hockey Club

Word is through informally that FHC might have knocked Camberwell off for the title of Victoria’s best junior program! That’s the best of 67 clubs/associations playing in Melbourne. Our boys program came second to Camberwell, whilst our girls program was second to Waverley (only missed by a whisker even though we didn’t have an U13 A girls team this year). On the combined or overall score we were well ahead of any other contenders. Well done to all involved in helping the FHC Juniors compete in 2011!

Hope everyone can support as many teams as possible wearing Red, White & Blue!

State League 2 (2) lt MCC (3) Goals A Turnbull

Finals time and earning second spot gives the FHC ladies side the double chance and another crack at MCC to see who goes straight into the the grand final in a few weeks time.  The team knew what we had to do, set our game plan in motion and looked sharp before the start of the game.
The game commenced at break neck speed with both teams trying to get the upper hand. Both teams created some excellent chances to score in the first half and the game was evenly poised. A turnover led to MCC earning a corner, a quick layoff to their left side and a quick shot lead to MCC’s first goal. With only a few minutes left in the half there was no further score.

MCC began the second half better than the FHC team did and scored off another corner with a direct hit that clipped the top of keepers pads.  Minutes later they scored again to 0 – 3 up and in total control. The FHC girls, at 3 goals down panicked for a short period of time and started to try and fire ball from our back line to our forwards. They then settled down and started to pass the ball around. With 15 minutes to go FHC started to attack more and scored an uplifting goal to get their confidence up. The FHC girls pressed on and we scored quickly again and were 1 goal away from forcing a draw. With 5 minutes to go MCC tried to slow game down. For the FHC girls, they ended up running out of time but showed the minor premier that we  can score against them and play well.

Coach Luke Michael stated “Once again we showed that we are improving with the league leader, last two times we have lost 5-1 and 4-1. Now all we have to do is win the Preliminary Final against a very good Kew team and we will be able to get another chance to play MCC in the final. We lost our composure for some of the game and played into MCC’s hands. When the team is mentally switched on they can match it with the best of them. Need a big supporter crowd there this Sunday at 10.30am on S1 to help lift us over the line.”

Pennant c (2) def Jew (1) Goals J Angus, J Skilton

The girls entered the final knowing that they had been playing well in the last month.  In saying that, Kew had also hit form winning 9-0 the previous week.  Foots started well pressing Kew with quick movement of the ball and setting up goal opportunities.  Jas Angus and Jaimee Skilton showed their experience by being in the perfect position to score in the first half. The girls entered the half time break with a 2-0 lead and full of confidence.  It was quite clear that Kew would throw everything at them given it was do or die. Foots defended well; however, Kew scrambled a goal.  The final score 2-1.  We play Mentone this week who finished on top at season’s end. We have not beaten them this year; therefore, it will be a challenge.  A challenge the girls, I believe, can step up to.

Pennant D (3) lt MCC (4) Goals

As expected the game against Mentone was another evenly contested game. After we got ourselves back into the game Mentone exposed our lapses in concentration and snatched the win in extra time. We play Power House this weekend and are looking forward to getting back to our winning ways.

Metro 1 North (1) lt Camberwell (2) Goals 

Metro 2 North (0) lt Kew (6)

With three key defenders and a striker out, this was going to be a difficult match for the girls to win.  The game started out with both teams going head to head and playing very physical hockey.  Although opportunities to score were presented for both teams, the second half was started at nil all.  The highlight of the first half was the ability of the defence to keep moving the ball out of our defensive circle and praise should be given to Monica and Hannah (WM3S) for their efforts. The second half started badly with Kew scoring from a short corner in the first few minutes and followed up by a second short corner some 5 minutes later (we were really missing our regular defenders).  From here the Kew forwards were working our defence hard and scored regularly from then on until final whistle.  The attacking team (including Zoe WM3S) worked the ball hard in the second half, but failed to break through the determined Kew defence.  Kew’s physical style of play appeared to put some of our girls off their game and this was reflected in the final score.

Metro 2 South (2) lt (7) Goals T Bezzobs 2

Metro 2 South girls had a tough task to take on the top 4 again this season, just making it. And after taking the premiership last year from the same position, there was no doubting the expectations we were all carrying. The game was very fast from the outset, and didn’t ease up. ECHO scored early, and then after absorbing considerable pressure, we hit back and levelled the game. But just before half time, ECHO scored two goals quickly and it became impossible to recover from there. Everyone tried hard in the second half, but with only one other goal scored, the result was imminent. Great effort to all the girls for getting into the finals after promotion, and a big thanks to all our supporters throughout the season.

Metro 3 North (2) def Yarra (0) Goals K. Gordon, L. Thomas

Another excellent performance from the team this week. Finished on top of the ladder and played like a good side – controlled the game throughout, created scoring chances at our end and limited the oppositions chances to score at the other end. Now into the grand final in two weeks time!! Well done and good luck!

FHC’s major sponsor Just Hockey is having a sale – Check it out!

FHC Senior Men’s & Women’s Sections have hit the jackpot with 14 out of 17 teams in Finals after the last round of the home and away season. 4 teams have secured Minor Premier. 2 teams secured the double chance in 2nd. 5 teams in third and 3 teams in 4th.

We wish every team success in the first Semi!

STATE LEAGUE FINALS

Womens’ State League 2 (2nd) vs MCC
Men’s State League 2 (3rd) vs Albury

PENNANT FINALS

Women’s Pennant D (1st)  vs Mentone
Women’s Pennant C (3rd) vs kew
Men’s Pennant B (3rd) vs Waverley
Men’s Pennant E (3rd) vs PH

HOME FINALS AT FHC

Men’s Metro 4 West Red (3rd)  vs PH
Men’s Metro 3 West (1st) vs Brunswick
Men’s Metro 1 West (1st) vs MCC

Women’s Metro 1 North (2nd) vs Camberwell
Women’s Metro 3 North (1st) vs Yarra Valley

AWAY FINALS

Men’s Metro 2 West (4th) vs Melton
Women’s Metro 2 North (4th) vs kew
Women’s Metro 2 South (4th) vs ECHO

State League 2 (2) drew Southern United (2) Goals H Negus, D Black

The last round of the home and away season was finally upon us. The girls traveled down the Nepean to Moorabbin to play Southern United. A vital match for Southern as they required a win to secure third place and the upper hand in the first Semi Final against 4th. For Footscary the match did not effect our 2nd place ladder position. We lost one of our fast running strikers due to illness just before the game which reduced the team’s run on the forward line. The girls knew Southern would come out hard and they did not let us down. Both teams wanted to score an early goal and it was FHC who dominated the first ten minutes. The tam had some good chances to score goals but could not convert, finally FHC broke through and Harriett Negus scored the first goal with some great team work up front from Olivia Colasurdo and Dani “my left foot ” Black. Southern stepped up their effort and turned the tide of the game and kept pressing our back line . They finally broke through and scored the equaliser. Southern did not let up and scored again. We went into half time 1 – 2 down.

The second half commenced and the team started well but still could not get ball through their zone. Our passing was not our greatest and made it difficult to get continuity with our play. The team started to get some structure back and moved ball quickly and with a late run from Dani ” My left foot ” Black eliminated the keeper and scored the equaliser to help finish the game of  2 – 2 all.

Coach Luke Michael stated: “Glad the season is over and now come the finals, we did not play the ground well and this did not aid our passing. The team needed to be more switched on off the ball and players where caught off guard. We did not have a good game however perhaps this is the wake up call the team needs entering finals….it is not over yet. Finals are a very different game and we will see if the ladies will bounce back and play a good style of hockey against MCC. The winner goes straight into the grand final, the loser will play the winner out of Kew (4th) and Southern (3rd). “

Pennant c () ()

Pennant D (2) drew Mentone (2) Goals

Our last match of the season was against Mentone who we’ll face in the first final, so a good way to get into finals mode but we knew it would be hard on their pitch. As with previous games against them we went 2-0 up but couldn’t hold them out and finished off a 2-2 draw. The result gave us the minor premiership which is a fantastic result for a team that has worked hard all season and worked well as a group. This is the team’s first season in PD after gaining promotion from Metro 1 in 2010. Congratulations to everyone on a great season…bring on the finals!!!

Metro 1 North (1) drew PEGS (1) Goals C Burt

We headed into this game looking to regain our momentum heading into the finals. Unfortunately we failed to build up the momentum and did not play to our potential. The team seemed to struggle with the surface and failed to adapt to the conditions. Hayley had a great game and went in hard for the ball time and time again. We had our changes in front of the goals but failed to capitalise. Our shots on goal lacked the power and intensity required to get through the goalie. Our team is looking forward to a tough week of training and ready to hit the ground running for our first round of finals. We are looking to find the form which managed to earn us the minor premiership in Metro 1 North. Good luck for next week ladies! Thanks to Hayley and Moo for helping us out this weekend.

Metro 2 North (5) def Altona (2) Goals M McCullagh 2, R Torr, J Caon, L Schwartz

Down to the wire and the girls were in good spirits leading into the final round which was a must win for Footscray if we wanted to play finals.  With Altona sitting in 4th spot and Footscray in 5th, we had to win, no ifs, no buts.  The game started off with the girls being a little ragged in their manning up and this created an opportunity for an Altona player who sneaked deep to put us under pressure which resulted in Altona scoring the first goal some 17 minutes into the game.  By this time the Footscray forwards were starting to hit their straps and a great pass into the ‘D’ was nicely picked up by Meg at full stretch to put us at 1 goal all.  This was soon followed by a goal from Ruth which gave us the edge at half time.  Just 4 minutes in to the second half, the girls put on a great display of skill to score off a short corner – one of the best I’ve seen with three accurate passes totally confusing the Altona defenders with Jemma finishing it off by slotting it into the back of the net (score, 3 goals to 1).  The next short corner for Footscray resulted in another great goal with Meg picking up her second goal by picking up the loose ball (score, 4 goals to 1).  By now the Altona attack were starting to make a run and they finally put a ball into the net.  With only ten minutes to go, Mon thumped one towards goal but Leah got her stick to it and knocked it down and into the net (score, 5 goals to 2).  Today was a day that the attacking players put it together, but nothing should be taken away from our defense as they repelled the Altona forwards time and time again.  Well done to everyone, great win and now its off to play Kew in the finals.

Metro 2 South () ()

Metro 3 North (2) def Essendon (0) Goals H. Shaw, S. Breeze

On Saturday night at home the Metro 3 North ladies finished off the regular season in a one sided match with PH/StK. Their goalie had an unbelievably good game (maybe playing in the wrong side??) making loads of saves, whilst at the other end, our goalie, Jeanne,  didn’t get to touch the ball. Heather scored a super backstick goal early in the first half, and even though we had the ball in our forward half most of the game and loads of penalty corners, it took until the last 10 minutes for Sharon to put the second goal on the board. Well done to all for an excellent season so far, now for the finals!

Metro 3  South () Mentone ()

Metro 4 North BYE

7pm Friday 23rd September. Tickets on Sale now!

State League 2 (3) def Kew (1) Goals A Turnbull, J Luckett

Securing second on the ladder had us relaxed for our round 17 clash with Kew at home on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Kew needed a win to give them a good chance of playing finals with a tough run home and third to sixth all one point away from each other. Kew exploded into the game as expected and scored an early goal from a corner, afterward the girls held their nerve and weathered the storm until we finally took control of the game. We return fired with a brilliant pass from Rachel Doody to Jane at the back post saw her score a captains goal to put us back on level pegging. We kept up the hard work and Alicia Duggan was crunched by two Kew players while going for the ball in a game that was fast turning into a finals game. With an own tackle from one of our players on Libby Birch we where awarded a dubious penalty stroke that was put away by Amy Turnbull. The FHC side entering half time 2 – 1 up and running over Kew.

The second half started off with Kew once again playing for their season. They ran and tackled hard but once again the FHC team took control of the game and scored again late in the game with Amy Turnbull playing as striker with a reverse stick hit and we went 3 – 1 up. The score did not change for the rest of the game. The last ten minutes saw the game die off and both teams did enough to keep each other honest. The game ended 3 – 1 in Footscray favour.

Coach Luke Michael stated “Once again happy with a win, we played some great hockey and acquiring the winning attitude that will be important in finals. Very happy to see over the last few weeks different players step up and take some leadership on the field. With one game to go and Southern needing a win to secure finals I can only guess they will be hitting us just as hard or harder than Kew and Yarra combined. Hope to see a big crowd at Southern to help us over the line. “

Pennant c (1) def Kew (0) Goals ?

Pennant D (4) def Waverley (2) Goals ?

We came up against waverley who have shown good form recently and climbed up to 3rd on the ladder so we needed to be focused and get back to our style of game. We got off to a good start with an early goal and played a good passing game getting rhythm back into our team that has been lacking recently. An important win that keeps us top of the ladder with one match to go against Mentone who are 2nd on the ladder at their home ground – so the minor premiership hangs off the result of the last 70 minutes of the regular season. Well done to the team on a great season thus far!

Metro 1 North (3) def Doncaster (2) Goals ?

Metro 2 North (2) drew Kew (2) J Caon, M La

This game with Kew (3rd vs 4th) was going to be a tough match and the girls put on one of their better performances.  There was very little difference between the two teams as they battled it out in the first half.  Kew scored first from an uncontested goal fired in from outside the 25 which catched a Kew stick for a deflection into the goal in the first 5 minutes of the game.  The contest between the two teams continued until Jemma picked up a loose ball in the circle late in the first half and thumped it into the goal.  Kew soon responded with another goal which they worked well and thus sent Footscray 1 goal down into the break.  The second half was well played by the girls who had the upper hand more often than their opponents, but Footscreay failed to score as the Kew goalie literally fell on any ball which beat their defence until Monica put one in from the top of the circle.  For the rest of the half, the ball moved into each teams circle a number of times, but no one managed to convert.  In all, a great battle between two equally determined teams.

Metro 2 South (1) drew Bayside (1) Goal P Fuhrmeister

Metro 3 North (1)  def Werribee (0) Goal  L Thomas

A tough and hard fought win on Saturday at Werribee. Werribee had changed their side dramatically since earlier in the season and it was a fairly even contest. The backline did an excellent job, and once we started to move the ball around the pitch, looked in control of the game. Last regular season game at home this Sat night 6.30pm against Powerhouse before the finals!

Metro 3  South (1) drew Knox (1) Goals

Metro 4 North (0) lt Altona (18)

M4n  played  it’s  last  game  for  the  season on Saturday night, and despite  all  the  players  trying  hard, we lost 18-0. Jo Foster, our goalie  has to defend against many attacks and played really well. The opposition’s   skill  levels were far superior to ours, but we managed to make a few  runs  down  the forward line. Other players who played well were Rachael McIntosh and Siobhan Hannon.

HIGHLIGHTS

* State League 2 secure 2nd spot leading into finals!

* Susan Dobson hat trick in Metro 2 South

* 6 out of 9 ladies teams in finals!

State League 2 (1) def Yarra Valley (0) Goals O Colasurdo

After last weeks SL2 results not going our way we had another must win match against Yarra Valley, the girls could still loose 2nd spot with a loss. The pressure was on! At the SNHC on a sunny Sunday afternoon, additional pressure was placed on the girls with 3 Men’s teams who played before them all secured great wins. The game commenced and came into the pitch determined and played hard over the ball.  The FHC girls struggled with the physical intensity of the opposition in the first half, however both teams defended well. Yarra controlled the ball well and attacked, they took advantage of circle penetration and earned six corners. The FHC defense held firm and did not let them score. We started to gain more attack towards the half time whistle, unable to convert a corner or get a shot away in our attacking circle. The first half ended nil all and Yarra went into the half time break with the upper hand.

The second half was a different story. We matched their effort and physicalaty and took control of the game. We earned our first corner from brillent field work from Amy Turnbull and scored with Olivia Colasurdo picking up a rebound. We had a few more chances in the game but were unable to convert. To Yarra’s credit they kept coming at us and still earned corners which were saved by our defense. Penny Mather saving multiple shots and keeping us in the game. Caitlin Duggan saved a late shot on the goal line and after that during a defensive corner stepped up and took a hit for the team. This effort lifted the FHC girls to hold out the game. FHC are eight points clear with two rounds left and the second chance in finals.

Coach Luke Michael states: “Very happy with the second half by the ladies as they’re toughness and mental strength were questioned. We ground out a win against a team that was playing a defensively based game. We got the points and showed we are top quality team. Very proud of win.”

Pennant c (4) def Altona (1) Goals J Angus 2, B Schofield, D Pereira

Pennant D (5) def CV Bazers (3) Goals B Rowland 2, P Veitch 2, M Patterson

Metro 1 North (6) lt MCC (1) Goal G Cutrale

Unfortunately this was a game that we would rather forget. Our girls were put on the back foot early with a couple of quick goals to MCC. MCC came out fighting and were keen to keep their finals hopes alive with a win. Our young team came up against a very experienced MCC outfit. We went into halftime 4-0 down. The girls came out in the second half with something to prove and scored an early goal. It didn’t take MCC long to get one back and then another goal late in the game saw them with a 6-1 win. The FHC team walked off the ground with their heads held up high and dignity intact, happy in the way in which they went about their hockey. We look forward to the challenge of meeting MCC in the finals – this loss has forced us to drop down to 2nd on the ladder.

Metro 2 North (0) lt Sunshine (1)

The match between 4th place and bottom of the ladder should have been a no brainer but nothing seemed to work right for the girls in this very ordinary game which didn’t show them at their true potential.  With both sides battling it out in the first quarter, Sunshine finally put one into the net from a short corner which wasn’t covered by the defence in the latter part of the first half.  On the day, the two sides were fairly even, but although Footscray had opportunities to score, it just wouldn’t go into the net.  The girls will have to take it to a new level next week against 3rd placed Kew, if they want to succeed in the finals.

Metro 2 South (6) def Monash (0) Goals S Dobson 3, V Galliver 2, T Bezzobs

Metro 3 North (5)  def Doncaster (0) Goal S.Breeze, K. Stoove, C. Didato, E. Williams, L. Thomas

Strong performance from Metro 3 North Ladies this week after a couple of quiet games. Dominant display across the ground even though we had a few key players missing. Eleanore Williams played well in her last game for the season (off on a world tour with the folks – have a great time). Will finish the season on top.

Metro 3  South (3) def Camberwell (2) Goals C Poole, H Morton, H Munroe

Metro 4 North (0) lt Essendon (3)

Foots  lost  to  Essendon Ladies 3-0. The girls all worked hard and we had   some  great  runs  up the forward line but were unable to score.
Essendon  tried  many  times to score, with the defense working hard to keep  them  out.  Only 1 goal was scored in the 2nd half. Jo Foster as
goalkeeper played a great game, as did Remerona ( Mo) Chambers.

HIGHLIGHTS

* State League are 7 points clear in 2nd going into the last 3 games.

* PD takes first place on the ladder!

State League 2 (4) def Baw Baw (0) Goals O Colasurdo, J Luckett, R Doody, J Skilton,

Terrible weather greeted us as we arrived at Drouin to play Baw Baw at their home ground. Once again another important game for the Footscray ladies as this is a must win given the tough run home against quality opposition in the last 3 rounds. If the girls could secure this win we are then a win away from securing second and a very good chance of going up to State League 1. We had a few players carrying a few niggly injury and promoted Bec Schofield and retained Jamiee Skilton for this match.
As expected Baw Baw were determined to improve on their 10 – 0 defeat from the first clash and came out hard physically. We matched there intensity but lacked polish with our passing and this cost us field possession and genuine chances of scoring goals. We scored not long into game with great reverse stick shot goal by Olivia Colasurdo to have us 1 – 0 up. We lost Georgia Hopkins with a leg injury and this reduced our rotations but we kept up the pressure and Jane Luckett scored to give us 2 – 0 nil lead going into half time.

The second half got underway with a much more sharper Footscray and we created a lot of chances at goal but not capitalise and this allowed Baw Baw to get some shots on goal but Penny held firm and kept them out. We still did not move quick enough into position and this limited our passing ability and cost us more goals but we scored with Jamiee Skilton picking up a rebound and scoring her first goal for the ones this year. We scored our fourth goal from Rachel Doody to help finish off the game with us 4 – 0 winners.

“Happy with the result considering the team did not play to our potential and just did enough to secure the win. All team members need to ensure they continue to run hard throughout the entire game. If they don’t continue to keep this up, it could cost us later in the year and become a bad habit against weaker opposition. Still very happy to get a comfortable win which is a sign of a good team. A massive year is catching up on us as we near the end of the season and once finals start I know the girls will find a new level of intensity. With so many players playing well it will be very hard to pick the finals squad and players need to lift to make sure they secure their spot.”

Pennant c (0) lt Hawthorne (0)

The girls were confronted by the top of the ladder team Hawthorn. They played quite well with no luck.   Hawthorn converted a short corner in the first half to lead 1 Nil at half time.  The second half again provide our forwards many opportunities to score.  In the end Hawthorn scored twice off short corners in the second half that were controversial.  The positives were that the team moved the ball well, and the final score did not reflect the percentage of procession we had.

Pennant D (2) def Essendon  (0) Goals B Rowland, G Lewis

We didn’t play our best but got a win and that’s taken us top of the table which is very exciting and a little nerve wracking. We’ve got a strong team who are working so well together so with a couple of tough games coming up hopefully we can hit the finals with form under our belts. Well done to all on making it to the top of the ladder, consistency really does seem to pay off!

Metro 1 North (4) def PEGS (1) Goals K Forsdike 2, C Burt, G Cutrale

Metro 2 North (4) def PEGS (0) Goals N Boonprakob 2, S Baugh, R Grey

With only 4 games to go, the girls need to keep on winning to secure a finals birth.  We have had issues playing the lower teams before, so this one had to go by the numbers.  With a very slow ground (PEGS) the ball didn’t have all that much pace on it and the play was like watching a hockey match in slow motion.  The girls generally tagged up well and had most of the play in the first half but lacked continuity when in attack.  Our first goal came around 13 minutes in when Ning put a loose one into the net.  Ten minutes later, young Rebecca had a last touch of the ball which must have hit every stick in the “D” with the ball rolling over the line.  The second half saw PEGS do more attacking and Footscray under pressure, but great work from Nicole Ducret (GK) and defenders to keep the ball out.  Fourteen minutes in saw another goal from Ning which was helped along by a PEGS defender for extra measure.  This was soon followed up with a great goal by Sian who worked the ball into the circle from the midfield.  The girls did enough to keep on top for the game, but they must do better over the coming weeks to secure a finals birth.  Good win, but it could have been sweeter.

Metro 2 South (0) lt Mentone (3)

It was third vs second, on a cold day at Footscray with rain threatening morning. The backline was under pressure from the outset and continued to be for the remainder of the day. Saving more than 10 short corners, Mentone’s goals were both classy and well drilled and showed where we will have to be to make and succeed in the finals.

Metro 3 North (1) drew Essendon (1) Goal K Gordon

A tight battle this week for Metro 3 North. The game was played in the middle of the field, with not a lot of coherent forward moves. Essendon played well and were very strong in the backline. The team still sits well clear on top of the ladder.

Metro 3  South (1) def Monash (1) Goal Ash Fitzgerald

Scoring her first senior goal, Ash and the team were over the moon with the 1 – 0 win.

Metro 4 North (0) drew Werribee (0)

M4N  had  its  1st  draw  this  year  against  Werribee. Neither side were  able  to  score  a goal in the game, and all the players played
consistently   well.   Footscray   has   the  last  play  of the day, finishing with a short corner which we were unable to score from.