Yellow Nuggets 4 - Green Big Macs2

Yellow nuggets had a good game with 4 goals. Matt Gourlay, Brodie Farrell-Hutt and Axten Farrell-Gray passed well. Sarah White and Josie Gilham backed up well. All players had a great game. Player off the week went to Brodie Farrell-Hutt, who didn’t give up all game.

The Green Big Macs, tried very hard to keep the nuggets from scoring in the first half. With the nuggets getting 4 goals in the first half, Kate Elkins played well taking the ball down to the goals but was unable to score until the second half, where Kate and Alyssa Hindmarch scored one goal each. Julian Garling, Mackenzie Gooley and Lachlan Riches also had a blinder of a game. Player off the week went to Alyssa Hindmarch. Well done to all.

Red Cheeseburgers5 - Blue Fries 0

This week we saw a great game between our Blue Fries and Red Cheeseburgers. The Red Cheeseburgers were a little bit too strong on the day running away winners 5 nil. Great hits by Fraser Robertson set up for the rest of the team to score. Maddie Jones was the player of the week.

Blue Fries battled hard and were unlucky not to score. Well done Wade Newton in leading your team around the park. Jade was the player of the week.

Don’t forget Tuesday training at the hockey ovals with Dinga (Graham Bell) 4-5pm. We encourage all U/11’s to attend as it is great for skills and will really improve your game. We are hoping to split into four teams for our McDonalds Cup on Saturday. See you then, 11:15am

U/15’s:

ANZ Arrows 1 v Cowra Smash Repairs 1

ANZ Arrows: Thank you ANZ Cowra branch for our new shirts - we all look pretty flash. Well done Nic, you had an amazing game in goal making 2 great saves. For the smallest member of the team you showed no fear. Mel and Alex had another great game in the backs, they have their positions mastered. Blake proved himself in the centres, doing a lot of running, attacking and defending all game. Anna and Gemma played excellently in the halves, both ending up with hand injuries. Hope you recovered OK. Our goal scorer Matt Gourlay was ANZ Player of the Week. He had a great passing game and was keen in attack. Matt was consistent the whole game, keeping Smash on their toes. Good luck Gemma with your horse riding this weekend, we will miss you. Best players were Nic Banks, Matthew Gourlay and Kyle Hannan.

Cowra Smash Repairs: Goal scorer - John Clarke. Best players were John Clarke, Jess Camps and Natalie Camps.

Cowra Glass 2 v Elders Red 1

Elders Red: Goal scorer - Josh Charnock. Best players were Emma Francis, Daniel White and Josh Dunk

Cowra Glass: Cowra Glass played awesome on the weekend with only 8 players. Peta Sharkey received Best and Fairest for her outstanding goal keeping. Joel Watt, Ben Jones, Bianca Garling and Hayley Wright held the team together up front playing well leading to Joel’s 2 goals. Brodie Farrell-Hutt had a fantastic game on the wing and improves every week. Jamie-Leigh and Dana did well to prevent the ball from getting too far past half way. Julian Garling did his best out on the wing. Best players were Peta Sharkey, Joel Watt and Jamie-Leigh Gourlay.

Seniors:

Railway Hotel v LJ Hooker

Railway Hotel: Railway rushed off to a good start hoping to post early points against Hooker. A few close calls saved by the opposing keeper had the Hotel’s midfield Spoon Falconer, Andy Howarth and Jack Nobes, working hard to keep ball back in amongst the forwards, Maree Dykes, Carmel Dalton and alternating juniors, Blake Falconer, Brody & Kyle Hannan.

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(The boys support well up front and continue to develop nicely.) A great cross goal ball by right wing, cracking Carmel, saw poor Maree take a ball flush to the feet and a goal went begging. Opposing LJH scored a goal against the run of play through a hammered penalty corner shot. Our GK, Skye Pratt got a big piece of it but it rocketed off her narrowly missing fullback post protector Joey Nobes. All right then, we thought, and we responded with a goal of our own. More pressure launched in LJ’s circle. Jack seemingly had the ball on a string today and the forwards were looking for shots left, right and centre. Jack scored. Maree snapped a goal off another Carmel cross ball. Hookers, not to be outdone, kept our defence working, Marion “Go Maz” McAlister scrambled well with Brenda Hannan and Joey bumping and grinding their way through one defensive play after another. Skye was on her back, her side, her everything to keep that ball out of goal. Back into attack we went. Dave Howarth subbed for Jack and put on a run from backs to frontline. Dave and Spoon led a big foraging play up the centre, using both wings, and then back into the guts of the circle saw Andy put a nice ball over the horizontal keeper to hit the backboards. LJH came back with another solid penalty corner, Andy got stick to a flying shot but it had too much on it, missed our keeper and hit the cage. Hookers got a taste and were keen for more. More dives and hard scrambling by Skye on our line, with Maz, Jo and Brenda barging their way to the ball and out of the circle. Great back up by Andy, Spoon and Dave saw the ball kept clear and Railway finished with another goal from Mr Nobes who must have had chewy on his stick. Jack, stick and ball were the one entity today.

The Valley Hotel v Elders Big Red

The Valley Hotel: Valleys showed that V is for volume with all team members on deck with Mark Banks and Tracey Farley (replacing Jenna) both having great first games. Tracey scored the last goal of the game in the dying minutes moving from back to forward and connecting with a beautiful cross from Kristy Murphy. Terena Jones scored with an outstanding penalty stroke and Val Simpson, ever reliable, also put one away. Elka Johnstone was to die for in the midfield, keeping things tight with speedy Todd and Ricky while Terry had his normal, solid, reliable game in the backs - we all thought that he was going to score with a nice run up field. Emily had a top game in goal stopping everything. Sarah worked hard and really put her body on the line while Andrew and John, our rookies, played with skill and tenacity beyond their years. Stacey and Jackie were solid both in defence and attack. Thanks to Elders (who were 1 short) for a very tight, well played game. Numerous spectators commented afterwards how enjoyable it was from their point of view.

Friday’s Hockey News

It was good to see the number of U/11 players gathered together on Saturday - these are our stars of the future. And well done to those U/11’s who are also taking advantage of the Tuesday training sessions with Dinga - it shows that you are keen to have fun and improve your skills at the same time.

Representatives: Clare Watt travelled to Sydney for 2 days of gruelling selections for the U/15’s Girls State squad after being chosen in the Southern Half-State. Clare narrowly missed selection in the final team chosen from 46 of the finest NSW has to offer. Clare found the experience extremely positive and came away with renewed interest in a tougher training regime. What makes Clare’s achievement to this level so special is she was originally chosen amongst players with extensive TURF experience. Cowra is one of the very few remaining associations to only have GRASS fields. Clare and others working in the Cowra Advanced Training Squad are limited to developing TURF skills on a cricket pitch. All credit to them for their efforts. Not daunted, Clare and the others in the ATS are continuing to work towards their long term goals and we continue to monitor their achievements with great anticipation.

Cowra District Hockey acknowledges the efforts of our successful REP kids, - Clare Watt, Andrew White, Laura Butterworth, Jaime Buckmaster, Briony Jonkers and Nicole Coutanche, their parents for carting them to their various fixtures (its an expensive road they travel), and Dinga Bell for his coaching with the ATS. Other kids representing Cowra at outside events this year were Mitchell Gray, Bill McAlister, John Clarke, Brody & Kyle Hannan. And the year is so young! Well done to all. Again, congratulations to Clare on being one step closer to her goals.

Mitchell Gray representing Cowra, played with Dubbo in the U/15’s Boys State Championships held in Wagga on the weekend. Dubbo, playing in the second division, was bundled out in the semi-finals by the team that were eventual winners of the event. Mitchell acquitted himself well, Dubbo were keen to have him in their ranks. Well done, Mitchell.

Goalkeepers: A big rap for the goalkeepers this week, with so many doing a great job. Last weekend in particular there were some notable cracking saves and wonderful scrambling from really eager keepers. Special mention to the U/15’s players in teams taking turns in the role. Peta Sharkey in goal for Cowra Glass for the first time had an absolute blinder with some excellent high clearance kicks worthy of an experienced GK. Daniel White, for Elders Reds, is in there each week and has really taken a shine to the role. So much so, he gets in there again for Canowindra in the seniors. Joel Watt, another junior, plays keep for Elders Big Reds and doesn’t let his smaller size stop him from saving some huge goals. Yet another U/15’s player, Skye “Kamikaze” Pratt, gets kicking, blocking and sweeping for Cowra Smash Repairs as well as senior team Railway Hotel. She’s renowned for her “do whatever it takes” style. Nick Banks, one of our youngest U/15’s had his first taste of GK last week and did a fine job. Not forgetting our older junior GKs - Briony Jonkers for LJ Hookers and Emily Williams - Valley Hotel, are also exciting to watch, its gotta be good to get past them. And last but not least, our more mature, should we say experienced keepers, Carin Moss for Aussie Hotel and Di Clark for Townhouse Hotel make up a great list of goalkeepers performing a critical role for not only their teams but for the association. Well done all keepers, old and new, occasional and regular. Don’t forget we have a well seasoned, experienced “forever young” NSW GK in Mr Dinga Bell and he is more than happy to work with all or any interested GKs in developing GK skills and positioning.

Don’t forget June Long Weekend is the deadline for correct uniforms. Not the same as your team, you can’t take the field. Any uniform problems, chat to the executive.

Mouthguards: Umpires, coaches and captains must check that any player under 18 must be wearing a mouthguard and shin pads. No mouthguard, no play.

Umpires Exams: Yep, it’s that time of year again when we all are offered the opportunity to show someone, anyone, just how much you do know about hockey. Don’t just tell the ref, sit the referee’s exam and show them. The exams will be held on Wednesday 18th June at 7pm at the Cowra Services Club. Each senior team must supply at least 2 people (don’t have to be players) to complete the exam. A loss of 5 competition points per person will be incurred for a no-show. The exam must be sat on this night.

No training or warm-ups on Field 1. Please, no training on Field 1. As our main field, it must be rested as much as possible. Teams should train or warm-up on the other fields. On wet days the field quickly becomes slippery and chopped up making a poorer playing surface.

Shadow Coaching: - Due to it’s great success will remain in U/15’s. To take this type of coaching a step forward shadow coaching be trialed in seniors until the next meeting.

This week’s draw:

Minkey and U/11’s: 11.15am

U/15’s: 12 30pm:

Field 1: Elders Reds v Cowra Smash Repairs Ump: Railway Hotel

Field 3: ANZ Arrows v Cowra Glass Ump: Canowindra

Seniors: 1.45pm

Field 1: Canowindra v LJ Hooker Ump: Townhouse Hotel

Field 3: Aussie Hotel v Railway Hotel Ump: Elders Big Reds

3.10pm: Field 1: Elders Big Reds v Townhouse Hotel LJ Hooker/Aussie Hotel

BYE: The Valley Hotel

Canteen U/15 - Cowra Glass Seniors - Canowindra

7th June 2008 Long Weekend - NO HOCKEY