Benalla Hockey Club Round 11 reports

Rhett had a fantastic game in attack, making great passes and showing his teamwork skills.

Emma Parker was an all-rounder, playing both attacking and defending roles. Her flat stick tackles prevented multiple goals from the other team.

Sophie Littler used her speed and stick skills to carry the ball up the sidelines towards the goal, working well to get the ball around the opposition.

Bella played whenever she was needed, proving herself to be a versatile player on the field who helped to bring her team together.

Goals: Sophie Littler (4) and Emma Parker (1)

Under-12 vs Strikers

The under-12s hockey team took on Strikers in Shepparton, playing their most competitive game yet.

Bella Gillies found herself in all positions, running up the field in attack, while also stopping her team getting scored against.

Steele Adams and Finn Thompson were a solid duo in defence.

Thompson worked relentlessly to tackle every player coming down the field, while Steele made strong clearances up to the attacking line.

Will Keen was goalkeeper this week, stopping multiple tricky shots on goal and kicking the ball to the attacking players.

Hayden Littler was the team’s captain this week, working hard to make use of every opportunity to score a goal or to help prevent one.

He was joined by his younger sister, Sophie, who bravely stepped up to help score goals for the team.

Goals: Hayden Littler (1) and Finn Thompson (1)

Votes: Bella Gillies (3), Finn Thompson (2), Will Keen (1)

Under-16B Orange vs SSC Lions

Benalla under-16B took on the SCC Lions on Saturday, and while winning 12-5, the young Tigers were made to earn every ball by a determined SCC side.

With usual goalie Alex out of the team, Bella Gillies from the under-12 team filled in, doing an outstanding job deflecting several shots on goal and a very crucial one-on-one challenge.

Persistent defensive efforts from Liam Carroll were pivotal in keeping SCC from scoring any easy goals, and non-stop running from Brodie Rawlings kept the pressure on all game. Kobe Rawlings was once again top goalscorer, leading the way with four.

Xavier Kramer chipped in with two of his own goals and played very well both as a forward and as a full-back.

Serenity-Rose Donoghue was outstanding on the wing both defensively and while attacking, contributing two goals of her own on her way to her first player vote of the season for an excellent game. Final score Benalla 12 def SCC 5.

Votes: Brodie Rawlings 3, Liam Carroll 2, Serenity-Rose Donoghue 1.

Goals: Kobe Rawlings 4, Brodie Rawlings 3, Serenity-Rose Donoghue 2, Xavier Kramer 2, Liam Carroll 1.

Under-16B Black vs Strikers

The under-16B Black team had a strong attacking match against Strikers leading to a heap of goalscorers, almost everyone on the team scored a goal.

The team worked together to provide each other the opportunity to score a goal and backing each other up in the attacking end of the field.

Benalla also defended wonderfully against Strikers, leading to them to score very little goals.

Goals: Angus Hayes, Lachlan Johnson and Talon MacKenzie (4), Cael Johnson and Jack Chittick (2)

Votes: Talon MacKenzie (3), Angus Hayes (2), Cael Johnson (1)

Under-16A vs GVGS

Benalla took on GVGS this week determined not to repeat the loss of their last meeting.

The team worked well together, focusing on pursuing the second effort rebounds which earned the team a solid win 17-5.

Jacinta Woodward took to the field as this week’s goalie, stepping up into the role for the first time since trying the position in under-12s.

Woodward confidently completed great saves, holding GVGS to five goals for the match.

Defensive players Olly and Caleb Gillies created a strong defence stopping GVGS players in their tracks. Both players took the opportunity to take the ball forward for a run earning both a goal.

Noah Gillies and Angus Woodward skilfully wore down the GVGS defensive players, looking for opportunities to switch the ball across field using the midfield and the second-effort rebound opportunities to earn the team six goals each.

Zander Gillies positioned himself well through the midfield. He also used the boards to pass around the opposition and goalie, earning three goals for the team.

Next week the team will take a break from hockey 5s, joining Mooroopna under-16A hockey team for a full field hockey 11s experience.

Goals: Noah Gillies 6, Angus Woodward 6, Zander Gillies 3, Olly Gillies 1 and Caleb Gillies 1.

Votes: Noah Gillies 3, Olly Gillies 2 and Jacinta Woodward 1.

Women vs Echuca

The Women brought a fiery attitude to the match on the weekend against Echuca, and they were narrowly defeated by Echuca, 2-0.

Throughout the game, the Women worked magnificently together, constantly backing each other up during tough moments.

Across the forward line, Heidi Perry, Katrina Brown, Jacqui Edwards and Sophie Morton locked in multiple times to create a wall against Echuca to cause it to change tactics frequently away from its usual ways.

The forward-line worked with the half line during the match to create space and work the ball up the field towards the goal. In the half line, Jacinta Woodward and Amber Armstrong passed the ball between themselves to work around the Echuca players.

Occasionally, they utilised Liz Hayes out on the other half to switch the play towards her side of the field.

Further back on the field, Mel Gillies stepped into goals again this week and did a phenomenal job once again.

She stopped multiple attacks from a ferocious Echuca.

In the full-back line-up this week, Bec Littler and Ebony Jennings both used their amazing hitting skills to clear the ball at any opportunity up the field away from the danger of the goals.

The Women had heaps of attempts on goal, causing two short corners which lead to great opportunities for Benalla to have a shot on goal.

This week, Benalla had an opportunity for a new player to join the team, Heloise du Bois, who played a terrific match and demonstrated some lovely skills resulting in turnovers and winning the ball in contests against Echuca.

Votes: Mel Gillies (3), Katrina Brown (2), Liz Hayes (1).

B Men vs SYC

Wet and icy conditions greeted the Benalla Men’s team as they played second on the ladder SYC in what was a wet, cold, arm wrestle of a game.

Neither team was able to gain the upper hand on the scoreboard early. Though Benalla controlled most of the play, some hard defence from SYC made it tough to score.

SYC broke through for the first goal of the game, but Benalla soon responded from a James Black goal on a penalty corner.

Part-time goalie Dave Chittick probably did one of the hardest things for a goalie to do, and that was to deflect a penalty stroke from an SYC forward.

The game was very hard fought on a pitch that was slowly going underwater with the amount of rain that was coming down.

Unfortunately for Benalla, SYC was able to convert another scoring shot in the last quarter of the game to win 2-1.

Fantastic effort from all the Tigers players who remain on top of the ladder and, despite the conditions, always gave 100 per cent even though at times it felt like playing in Antarctica.

Final score Benalla 1 def by SYC

Votes: James Black 3, Noah Gillies 2, Cameron Gillies 1.

Goals: James Black 1