Great games for local hockey
MORE GALLERIES
Who said that hockey was a winter sport? The SAPSASA Mid-North/North Eastern Hockey teams played in lovely spring conditions at Grange Hockey Fields a few weeks ago and had a great time playing against city and country teams in the State Hockey Carnival.
We had boys and girls from Balaklava, Burra, Clare and Crystal Brook working together and combining as a team to play their best hockey.
Though all played hockey for local teams, the high standard of the opposing teams meant they had to learn new tactics and skills and cooperate with new team-mates to lift their performance play their best.
On Monday night both boys and girls bonded over a ten-pin bowling and laser skirmish session and throughout the week they cooperated as a team and combined effectively to play their best hockey.
Derek Upton from Burra coached the boy's team and won 3 games and drew 1, out of 8 games played.
On Monday against Port & Western, the boys lost 1-2 in a tight game with a slow start but good defence and team play allowed Darcy Gulin to show his skill and score a goal.
In the afternoon they played Gawler & Playford, losing 0-2 in a game that saw some good opportunities to score but we couldn't convert especially as the opposition had 4 state players.
Tuesday's first game was against Barker and the boy's great team play, good passing and solid defence resulted in a 5-0 win with goals to Lucas Williams, our own state player and Jed Devine, the captain and vice-captain respectively, George Peart, Nicholas Ferme and Ethan Cricchiola.
Later in the day they defeated North Adelaide & Torrens River 2-0, with solid defence from Angelo Vajda and Lachlan Harvey scoring the first goal, then Lucas the second.
On Wednesday, they lost a fast game against Onkaparinga South 2-3 with the ball going back and forth constantly and speedy Will Upton and Bersh Challis playing well to keep us in the game.
The second game found the boys winning again against Hills 1-0, with good team defence and the energetic Archer Maher scoring the winning goal.
Thursday saw again a close loss to Onkaparinga South 1-2, with Angus Paxton scoring the goal and Tristan Phillips steady in defence.
In the final game they again played Port & Western and had a 1 all draw with top defence and Denby Munchenberg running along the wing to move the ball well as Angus scored the equalising goal.
The girl's team, coached by Yvonne Tobin from Crystal Brook, played 8 games and though they didn't manage a win, they all tried their best, maintained their competitiveness and really enjoyed the week.
On Monday, playing South West they lost 1-2 with Opal Prince saving many goals and Shylee Bridger and Emilie Stockman defending well and Claire Hall running tirelessly and scoring the goal.
In the afternoon, they lost 1-4 to Hills & Barker and Opal again saved goals and Jessica Letcher, the vice-captain and Miriam Lockwood combined well to enable Katya Arthur to score a goal.
Tuesday saw the girls play Hills & Barker again with Matilda Wadsworth, Teleah Bridger and Claire playing strongly and Charlotte, the captain scoring a goal to end up again 1-4.
Later they played Port & Western, losing 0-3 with Charlotte, Jessica Letcher and Jayde Munchenberg passing skilfully and competing well.
On Wednesday, in a close game, they lost to Onkaparinga South 0-1 and again they defended confidently especially in the second half with Charlotte, Miriam, Claire and Jayden showing off their considerable hockey skills.
Playing Barossa & Light later, they lost 0-3 and Shylee, Alanah Greatorex in fine form and Jessica slowed down the opposition and halted many advances by the opposition.
On Thursday, they lost 0-2 to the undefeated Yorke Peninsula team with everyone defending strongly and slowing their opponent's attack.
In the final game, they lost again, 0-2, to South West with Alanah, Shylee and Matilda playing a high standard and passing effectively.
Big thanks must go to Harrison Williams and Cass Letcher, two older siblings of three of our players, who umpired for all our games plus a few other teams' games.
Everyone had a great time, learned lots and played their best hockey!