What a terrific round this week! No team lost, six wins and three draws. Well done to everyone.
Congratulations to Olivia Colasurdo, Georgia Hopkins, Bethany Russ and Amy Scott who have been selected to represent the Victorian Under 18 Women’s hockey team competing in the National Championships in Canberra later in the year. Bethany and Georgia are 14 years old and Olivia is 16 years old with Amy the veteran turning 18 soon. All players will play an integral role to bringing home the gold medal.
Congratulations to Sam Curtrale on umpiring in the Premier league this year. His last game was in the nail biter with Essendon drawing there match with TEM. This is a great reward for Sam who has worked hard to develop his skills umpiring across all grades and helping out with as many games as he could while watching Georgia playing. Well done Sammy and congratulations again.
Premier League 4 def Doncaster 3 Goals O Colasurdo, G Hopkins 2, N Hancock
A massive match for FHC with both teams needing a win to stay in touch with the top four. Doncaster got off to a flying start dominating play with great speed and hardness. Doncaster struggled to get a free shot off and finally what seemed like an eternity FHC started to work the ball out of the back line and ended up getting a corner. A blistering pass from Olivia Colasurdo to Georgia Hopkins was saved originally by the Doncaster keeper but Georgia picked up her own rebound and scored to give the doggies the lead with the run against play. Doncaster hit back with a pass into FHC’s defensive circle clinically deflected by one of our back women to level the scores. FHC scored again late in the half off another corner with Nicola Hancock drag flicking a low ball along the ground and into the corner of the goals. Doncaster leveled again with a late goal but not to be out done FHC scored again with Georgia Hopkins showing her boyfriend in the crowd how to play our great game. The second half got underway with both teams creating opportunities to score but it was FHC who scored first with Olivia Colasurdo getting the ball from a Sam Ellis breakaway and eliminating the keeper and roofing the ball into the net to give FHC a 4-2 lead. Doncaster showed why they are top four favorites and never gave up and scored another goal. It was a very tense last ten minutes with FHC not leaving any room for Doncaster to get off good shots and would counter attack up the line. The FHC team finished the game 4-3 victors and look forward to the big clash with last years Premiers.
Premier League Reserves 3 def Doncaster 2 Goals G Cutrale, D Pereira, A Scott
Pennant A 4 def Southern United 0 Goals C Chatterton 2, M Penn, M Singh
Pennant B 0 drew Waverley 0
The Pennant B team performed well utilising a few different players to fill in some gaps this week, and enjoyed some new side line help. So thanks to the players and coaches who helped us out this week. Unfortunately, despite some hard attacks, no FHC goals were scored. Thankfully to some terrific defence no Waverley goals were scored either. Mandi Patterson played an outstanding inner consistently running back in defence and coming out of the circle with the ball, only then to be up front again applying pressure in the attack.
Metro 1 North 0 drew Melb Uni 0
The toughest opposition so far this year. The young team from Melbourne University played well and controlled the game for long periods. After coming up against big hitting teams in the first four weeks, FHC had their hands full with a run and pass team. The team tended to rush a bit and try to move the ball back through the middle of the ground when spreading it out wide was a better option. With a few key players out and a number of late changes we also found it difficult to get quality shots away either in general play or from short corners. However, the back line again shone out and we earned a point. Thanks to Ning Boonprakob and Siobhan Hannon for doubling up from an earlier Pennant B game. The team will take the lessons from this week and move forward to round 6!
Metro 1 South 2 def Mornington Peninsula 0 Goals R James, S McTigue
A well deserved win for Metro 1 South, 2-nil, against Mornington Peninsula. The women played the best game to date as a team, using the teams skills and strengths to the advantage. A great effort was made to use what has been practised and it paid off. Congratulates to our two youngest players, Rebecca James and Sarah McTigue on their outstanding goals. Good luck next week ladies.
Metro 2 North 5 def PEGS 0 Goals
Metro 2 South 2 drew OHA 2 Goals M McCullagh 2
FHC had most of the attack early on without bearing any fruit for the effort. The game then see-sawed back and forth, OHA being the first to score a lucky goal from a FHC stick. Just before the end of the half, FHC had a brilliant run of play to finally get one past the goalie. The second half began with FHC dominating the attack and receiving a run of 5 or 6 short corners before finally hitting the back of the net. OHA put up a consistent fight for the game and were awarded their second short corner for the half. Unfortunately, seconds before the final whistle, FHC’s second attempt to clear the ball bounced over sticks and went in, leaving the final score with a 2-2 draw. Both FHC goals were scored by the returning Megan McCullagh and we welcomed Hannah Hage to her first game back after the birth of her baby. The team wishes Tania Bezzobs all the best for her upcoming hospital stay, we will definitely miss her presence on the forward line. Well done again team,, still undefeated for the season!
Metro 3 North 4 def Greensborough (wh) 1 Goals M Di Benedetto 3, C Wang
FHC won 4-1 against Greensborough White, played at home. Goals scorers were Mirella Di Benedetto x3 and 1 own goal that was attributed to Carolyn Wang.