Northern Suburbs Junior Men's Hockey Newsletter

2004 #22

Thursday 5^th of Aug 2004

Events Calender

Last Weekend Results (31^st July and 1^st of Aug)

Next Games (7^th Aug , 8^th of Aug and 11^th of Aug)

DOUBLE HEADERS U13s, U15s and U17s !!!!

Match Reports

Norths Under 11 Report Saturday 31 July 2004

Our start to the game was very good. The first 10 minutes we attacked South West, who are the number one team, and placed them under quite a lot of pressure. Now I could say that this was due to great coaching, but it was due to some very good play from our attack in Isaac, Luke and James.

Unfortunately we were unable to break through and couldn’t keep the pressure on them. Once they got a roll on after the first ten minutes, we found it difficult to stop them. Our defense tried their best with George (under 9) playing a great game, along with Anthony. Unfortunately Tom copped a ball in the head, which went with the one he got in the warm up. This not only had an impact on Tom but our defensive mix as well.

Best on ground were:

3 – Alexe (played her best and last game for the year, took on players with pace).

2 - George (played very strong and well above his age).

1 – Anthony (made many excellent first and second saves).

This was Alexe’s last game and was certainly her best – well done Alexe. We continued to attack in the second half with Luke scoring a good field goal with excellent build up from the team. It was a great team goal and I look forward to continuing that type of play for our last 2 games.

Our plan was to take hits quickly out of defense. This worked well and we got the ball through but only when our midfielders stood in front of our opponents. This then allowed our forwards to receive the ball higher up the field, but the key is our midfielders standing in front of their opponents. Unfortunately we gave the ball away too much and several players were using one hand rather than two. This usually means we lose the ball and is something I’d like us to remove from our game.

One thing we need to focus on is stopping our opposition running with the ball through our midfield. That means our midfielders have to defend as well as attack, and by stopping I mean either tackle or get in the way to slow the play down. Also our defenders must mark their players. Unfortunately all of this contributed to our 1 – 16 loss, but once again we will learn form these things and work on them this week at training.

Whilst the weekend score was not good, I still believe we have all learnt a lot and improved significantly this year. I’m very confident that our attack will have opportunities against Saint Andrews and Easts in our last 2 games for the year. The challenge for us all is to stop our opposition scoring goals on us. Let’s see what we can do team, we all look forward to seeing how much we can continue to improve for the last 2 games.

Wayne Tucker

Under 11 Coach

Norths Under 13s Report Saturday 31^st of July

Well done boys. We really toughed this game out.

Although we didn't win we tried very hard all over the field. We contested the 50/50 balls, we tackled hard, we perservered and we used our heads when in trouble. Everyone did their job well. If we can just toughen up a little more in the contests and also re-contest when we are dispossessed we should be able to beat these teams that lie in front of us on the table.

James Battams gave us a little extra in the inside spot – I hope we all took notice of his effort. Young Drew and Isaac were welcome participants as well and these three will have no trouble with the demands of the U13's (of course we're only in div 2 though).

This week I'll tinker with the team a little – so be prepared for some changes in position. We need more speed and impact up front and we need to be a little more solid in defence in the middle – now's the time to tinker as we will make it into the 4^th spot and thus to the semis where we will meet Redcliffe.

We'll keep on training with emphasis on the strength on the ball, the need to get the 50/50 ball and to be thinking all the time – the forwards in particular need to be one positional play in advance of the defence – this is where we get the ½ a second we need to get away. Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate. Watch your midfielders (the inners and halves) and where they are as this determines where you will need to be – this is your advantage over the defense and you must use it.

AND NO EASY TURNOVERS!!! They're killing us (/me).

Graeme Higgins

Under 13's Coach

News

***Freaky Friday (13 August Dress up for Juniors)

Who will be the scariest?

Prizes include:- Stale Bread

Rotten Cabbages

Bags of rat poo

Spook time: 6:00pm

Food Includes:- Bat Wings

Maggot Mounds

Bloody finggers

Drinks Include: Buckets of blood

Norths Website

The website for the club is www.gjames.com.au/norths. Add it to your favourites. The newsletters will be posted on the site each week. Also the club is celebrating it's 30^th year and there is a lot of history and information contained in the site. Feel free to browse. There are also shortcuts to other hockey sites as well as wet weather details etc.Welcome once again to the 2004 hockey season.

Contact graeme_higgins@gjames.com.au by the Tuesday of the next week if you have any information to add to the newsletters – simply email the text or send an attachment.