📣 Read all about it – the round 2 wrap is hot off the press!
The team editor efforts are on the improve after a fairly lack lustre start in round 1 with notable contributions from George Wilkinson, Mitch ‘The Wizz’ Smith and Craig ‘The mature Birthday Boy’ Batten. My personal highlight came from George with the statement:
Nick Steffens had a mare of a time on the sidelines and the rotations had all players questioning his intellect.
Women’s unit
Premier League
by Caley Manzie
Waverley defeated Greensborough 1-0
We hit the turf in quarter one with a nail biting start. Greensborough nearly claiming their first goals with an unbeatable little flick over Reels head but luckily going over instead.
After a little chat with coach Bec at quarter time, we all decided to put our heads down and fight this out. As a team we dominant in the the forward line, getting shots at the goals multiple times by different players but the oppositions goalie was holding up a great fight.
Third quarter came around and this was it, goals needed to go in. We needed to win this! Finally the goal we were looking for hit the back board!
It was a team goal as everyone contributed but Jess Rake-Bolt was the trooper that got us to the finishing line! The whole second half of the game Waverley dominated the game – we claimed short corners and many attempts at goal.
But the end buzzer went and it came down to a 1-0 win 🥰
Premier League Reserves
by Majella Hine
Waverley defeated by Greensborough 0-4
It was good to be the early game and finished before the torrential rain set in as we travelled out to Greensborough on Saturday. We started off strongly as instructed by Colleen and keeping the opposition to nil score. Unfortunately despite huge efforts by the whole team, and Ally putting her body on the line, Greensborough managed to score.
We witnessed Spewa at her best stopping many goals as the Greensborough players fired that ball at her continually.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the result that we wanted at the final whistle but next week is a clean slate and hoping to get our first win!
Pennant A
Unfortunately this team has not provided a summary.
Pennant B
by Caity Moloney
Waverley defeated by TEM 0-4
Pen B came in charging, taking on the rain, using it to fuel our focus and intensity as set up against TEMs. Lifted up by the cheers from our fellow Waverley Players watching from the Clubhouse, we were in the best spirits to take out the win.
We played hard, with great teamwork and with high intensity. Unfortunately we werent lucky this time with TEMs getting some good breaks leading to a loss. Oh Well! Huge S/O to Ri for slaying it as our goalie in a last hurrah before going to Gold Coast!
Pennant E
by Emma Wong
Waverley defeated Razorbacks 2-0
Women’s Pennant E came up against the Razorbacks hoping to continue the season with another win on the board! As soon as we hit the field, we controlled the play early on and created plenty of chances.
We eventually hit the scoreboard with our first goal in the second quarter with a sizzling goal from our right inner Bridget! With only one goal, the Razorbacks were still hot on our trail chasing to even the score. Not letting our foot off the gas, the Pennant E Women kept working hard, and in the fourth quarter Chris solidified the win with an amazing shot from the top of the D – What a great game and well deserved win!
Looking forward to our next game against TEMS (bring it on!!!)
Metro
by Grace Rodrigues
Waverley defeated by Knox 0-2
On Sunday afternoon the women’s Metro B team were up against Knox on their home turf. The ball was hotly contested between teams, with the play being strong from both sides. Despite some exciting breaks from the midfield, and a handful of short corners, we were unfortunately left goalless. Without a keeper, our midfield and defence did an outstanding job to hold Knox at only 2 goals – one of which was from a penalty stroke (credit to Ailsa for her courageous effort in facing that!)
Jodie dominated the play in centre half, switching the ball across when needed and generating several turnovers in our favour. We are also incredibly grateful to our juniors who filled in and were responsible for a number of our quick breaks into attack. Overall, there was plenty of fire to this match, and it will be very exciting to see this team only get better. Fingers crossed for a goal (and a win) next week!
Mens unit
Premier League
by George Wilkinson
Waverley defeated Greensborough 3-1
Round 2 saw the mighty Panthers take on Greensborough away at Plenty Memorial Park. With challenging conditions and a strong heckling crowd Liam Daley found the net for what was his first goal in panther colours. Lachie Steinfort fired a slower ball (and I cannot stress this enough) straight at the keeper and it somehow made its way in after touching every opposite player.
Julius Gottstein was instrumental in the win from the defensive lines.
Nick Steffens had a mare of a time on the sidelines and the rotations had all players questioning his intellect.
Ollie Thompson impressed everyone with his flair upfront.
The final quarter had the panthers up against the wall playing with only ten men for the latter part holding on to a 2-0 lead. A well worked corner saw James Knee putting the ball on a platter on for a Wilkinson mistrap to make it 3-0 and a 250th to remember for Heath Simpson.
Premier League Reserves
by Stephen Head
Waverley defeated by Greensborough 2-5
It was a tough day at the office for the PLR men, unfortunately going down 5-2 to an experienced Borough outfit. We played well in patches with the second half being the better of the two halfs. Goals to Jules & Liam helped bridge the gap, but in the end we couldn’t bring home the chocolates. Injuries to Oli and LA definitely didn’t help, with the rotations being thrown out of wack. Rest up fellas and we’ll see you back out on the track shortly.
The boys are ready for a big week at training and we’ll bounce back next week ready to rumble against SUHC.
Pennant A
by Mitchell Smith
Waverley defeated by Southern 0-5
Our game this week started off positively. We had a strong showing from Burrage who was supplying quite nicely… With the cordial mix and pre-game gag. There was a little bit of a dip after that as having not done the Ra Ra Ra’s in 2 years proved ever so costly as the team was all over the shop, like the “sales” signs in an EB Games. This was in fact a sign of the game to come.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom however, in the second half … [of the day] we headed to the lovely Cheltenham RSL to pay respect to the ANZACs and pick up a parma. Macca was disappointing coming down the stretch as he was the only one at the table not to order a delicious parma and instead opted for the mushroom risotto. We hope to have a stronger showing next week. If we can get 9 or even 10 of us to the Pub for our debriefing it will show improvement and the hockey will sort it self out from there.
Pennant E
by Zane David
Waverley defeated Powerhouse 5-0
The boys rolled into round two looking to build on round one’s success with a second win of the season. “Urgent, effort and ball speed” was Jason’s rev up before the game and the boys started the first quarter strong. We opened the account with Glossop’s tap in off the post taking Powerhouse by surprise, going into quarter time with a 1-0 lead.
The next two quarters weren’t as dominate with the foot lifted off the pedal. Sam “the freight train” McPhillips managed to break his way through a hack fest, with his eyes glowing red, he bulldozed his way straight through a Powerhouse player, sending him off the pitch. He returned to the field for revenge with Sam in sight, and with the slightest bump, Sam was on the floor after an Oscar worthy performance.
The final quarter had Jason’s 3/4 time rev up in mind with the boys turning up the urgency, slinging the ball around and dominating Powerhouse for 17 minutes. The hard work resulted in a three goal flurry with Lanky, Bailey and Glossop all finding the net, sealing a 5-0 win and possibly the best (and longest) rendition of the club’s song HHF has witnessed.
Pennant G
by Craig Batten
Waverley defeated by Hume 0-4
Heading into Round 2 undefeated (albeit due to a bye in round 1) the team was keen to finally get out on the field. After a finely tuned warm up we finally made it on the pitch, well 11 out of the 16 made it on. To the dismay of the team the game did not start well as the birthday boy (aka me) was benched to start the game luckily I don’t hold grudges.
Hume came out guns blazing and we were a bit slow to get going. Very soon into the game we knew we had a battle on our hands as they were rather quick on the break. We put up a brave fight across the park and despite the score line managed to earn a few short corners and shots on goal. From an player perspective there are not too many highlights but quite a few lowlights – lets just say pretty much every player missed a trap or a pass during the game. As it was my birthday I had the right to claim the votes on the day however who needs Magic Mike when you have Mickey “the Magnificent” in goals, he was saving shots left right and centre so quite fittingly can easily lay claim to best of ground.
There were 2 quotes of the day – 1 from Chrispy & 1 from Chris Castle’s mum neither which can not be published.
Pen G is a mixture of premature (under 20 years old), mature (20 – 35 years old) and well matured (35 + years old – no longer described as old!!). The intention for this side for this year is to play good hockey and give 100% on the field but also have fun while doing so. So with this in mind we have a serious captain (Andy) and a fun captain (me)
Thanks to Elliot for running the bench, Jack & Al for coming down to watch and the spectators who gave us very vocal support – Emma and the Pen E boys.
Onwards and upward to Melton next week.
Fun Fact 1 – Using our home ground as a start & end point and the quickest route according to Google Maps to all the away games Pen G will travel around 550km this season.
Metro
by John Mowatt
Waverley drew with Glen Eira 1-1
Another round and another family took to the pitch. The Lightfoot Clan – James, Aidan and Evan made their senior debut for Waverley seniors. They join the Stansby’s and Fords as families within our squad. Congratulations to them all.
We played an experienced Glen Eira in poor conditions. The young guns led the show demonstrating great skills and determination. Their speed and tenacity to win the contests is a great strength for the team. Combining with the more experienced players they were able to move the ball well within our structure and created a number of exciting plays down the wings. Unfortunately in the first 3 quarters we were unable to be as effective in the D as we would have liked. An improvement on round 1 we were able to win a couple of corners.
Late in the 4th quarter we conceded a goal on a break away after a series of overheads from the opposition. A fantastic take out for the team was the way we never gave up and managed to score a great team orientated goal in the dying minutes.
Silas Stansby and Evan Lightfoot were are best players this round. Both demonstrating great skills. The other young players also did well – all showing improvement. James Espi was really solid in defence and showed great composure in the last quarter.
As we look to round 3 the focus will be trusting our structure and each others skills and taking the confidence of being able to mix it against more experienced teams. A win is not far away and we will surely sing our song loud and proud. Proud Panthers.
Midweek hockey
Open Age A
by Corey Joseph
Waverley defeated Werribee 1-0
Monday night saw the 35 men, wait… the Open men… hang on *checks HV website* ahh, the 35 men make the epic bus journey to Werribee. The Tigers opened the gates and the Waverly lads decided to park it on the pitch for the match – playing with 10 men.
A swashbuckling run by T.Wish found the back of the net with the help of a Werribee player who was young enough to be someone’s offspring. Despite the playing number and age difference, the Panthers created a number of chances up front with assaults coming from Bomber, Horse, Daly, Shags, and even Puts.
But let’s be honest, the back 6 deserve all the credit for the win. Joffa showed his tackling prowess by stripping a Werribee forward at the 25; Bozza doing as Bozza does and not letting a thing past; Macca providing pure wisdom and composure; Shags doubling as a midfielder when needed; and Ant with the age old time wasting techniques of yesteryear.
A very solid effort from 10 men to win 0-1.
Open Age C
by Richard Steers
Waverley defeated Old Xaverians 3-1
After a disappointing round 1 performance at home, where the basic hockey skills of passing and trapping alluded us, we started this away game against Old Xaverians like a different team. Sharp and fluid ball movement across the field had the younger Xaverians on the back foot and after 5 minutes of sustained pressure we converted with Craig Batten scoring an impressive deflection on the right post. On reflection Craig surely had his eyes closed to pull that off!
The next 20 minutes was more even with Gavin Davis and Marc Aarons defending resolutely but the Xaverian’s eventually earned and converted a penalty corner to even the scores. Not to be bested and moments out from half time, Dave Wighton found himself isolated in the attacking circle 1:1 with a defender [yep Dave was playing as a forward] and scored the most unlikely of goals. In what could only be described as odd, he pushed the ball towards the left hand post expecting miraculous support for a deflection. It seemed like an eternity from the time the ball left his stick, traveling slowly, bumping along the new Koonung turf and completely bamboozling the goal keeper to give us a half time with a 2 -1 lead.
The second half was a tight battle – both sides had opportunities, mid field turnovers featured and defences held strong at both ends. The Xaverians tired and Waverley still covering the ground well capitalised to score a third goal from a penalty corner option that will now be know as the REVERSE Z. Misdirection is the key to this option, with an Andy Lee push out so slow and inaccurate that everyone was confused, recovered into a series of Z patterned passes pinging between us like the Attack from Mars pinball machine before a cherry pick from Andy.
A 3-1 win and a great performance across the field.
Masters 45D’s
by Mark Adams
Waverley defeated Southern 1-0
The 2021 Men’s Masters season has started well. The team is a consolidation of players from the two teams we had in 2019, with a good mixture of experienced and less experienced players. Pre-season training has contributed to a strong start, with great teamwork and play on the pitch.
Our first Monday night game at home, against Croydon, saw us narrowly lose 0-1 against a skilled side, with a strong defence keeping the scoreline low. Our second game against Southern, saw us score a 1-0 win, with the Waverley men bringing their A game, with good positioning and accurate field passing – those preseason drills are paying off.
We would welcome any other players looking to have a regular run on a Monday night – contact Dwayne Rabel if you are interested.