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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 13:48 |
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 COURTESY MAITLAND MERCURY
New Maitland Rams head coach Nathan Baker has his eyes on a top-three finish in the Newcastle Premier League this season. Baker, 35, has been handed the reins after being in charge of training and preparing the Rams in 2009 while Peter Lovell was head coach. “Last year Peter would handle game day and I would run the training sessions,” he said. Baker, who also played last year and will suit up for the Rams again in 2010, said he was excited at the extra responsibility of coaching the team. “There are a few changes to be made,” he said. “I think we need to change the way we play, not personnel changes, but positional. We changed things around in the semi-final last year and I thought it worked well and needed to be done sooner.” Baker, who started playing senior hockey for Moorebank in Sydney when he was 21, said a top-three finish was high on the list of goals for the Rams. “If we can finish third we’ll get a home semi-final,” he said. “We finished in fourth last year after dropping four or five games at the end the season and we got bundled out of the finals because we had to travel to the Central Coast. A top-two finish would be great, but we’re being realistic at the moment and focusing on just getting that home semi.” Baker, who calls on more than 25 years of hockey experience, said the Rams intended to turn Maitland Hockey Complex into a fortress, where other clubs dreaded playing. “It’d be good to go the season undefeated at home,” he said. That good home ground form could start in round one, with the Rams likely to face defending premiers Souths. “The draw hasn’t been released yet, but it’s usually the same each year, which means we’ll play Souths either at Maitland or at Broadmeadow,” Baker said. Before the Hunter Cup semi-final at Broadmeadow yesterday, Baker said he didn’t know the last time his team had beaten Souths. Maitland almost broke that hoodoo when they completed regular time yesterday 2-all, only to be pipped at the post to go down 3-2 in golden goal extra time. They finished the inaugural pre-season competition in fourth place, after losing the play-off for the minor placings 6-3 to Glebe. Ryde took out the Hunter Cup title with a 7-4 win against Souths. Baker said the trial form of returning player Sean Henry hadn’t done himself any harm in making the Rams’ top 11. “Sean played extremely well,” he said. “I was shocked by how impressive his play was after being out all last year.” As well as Henry, Baker said Damien Schweinberger was one to watch in 2010. “We’re going to bring Schweiny (Schweinberger) up from second grade,” he said. “He’s one of the most skillful blokes in the club and can play anywhere, from fullback to up front.” Baker said he intended to have a first grade team picked before round one, but that his choices had to first be passed by the club’s selectors. The Newcastle men’s Premier League is expected to begin on March 21. |
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Hunter Cup finals preview |
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Saturday, 06 March 2010 12:57 |
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 So the Finals for the innaugural Hunter Cup arrive this Sunday. The best 3 teams from last weeks Matchday 1 were Ryde, South Newcastle and Maitland, and all 3 have made it through to the finals. They are joined by Glebe who snuck in courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Norths.
With the NIHC East field resurfacing project not being completed on time, it has meant access to only 1 field at Newcastle, so a slight change to the draw has been forced. 11:30am sees Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League rivals South Newcastle and Maitland Rams go head to head in a mouthwatering clash. This game will set the scene for the 2010 HCPHL, with the Rams certain to see how they rate this season against the competitions benchmark side. The Lions will be as keen to keeping thier great pre season form going strongly, and will want to show the 2009 HCPHL championship was well deserved with a victory here. Rams coach Nathan Baker submitted his thoughts on the clash: "Now that the dust has settled upon Maitland Park after what was a hot and energy sapping first day of the Hunter Cup it's time for the Rams to focus on the next task at hand which will no doubt be the toughest yet. 1.00 pm at the NIHC sees us go head to head with the 2009 HCPHL Premiers Souths.
This game is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at before the start of the 2010 season, Souths have had the wood on the Rams for as long as anyone cares to remember or forget, depending on who you are talking to. This is only my third season in Newcastle and I have always felt that Souths are the team to beat in the HCPHL so I am expecting nothing less than a well controlled, fast, physical and precise game of hockey, they have quality players in all positions and can seemingly create goals from nothing and we will need to be at our absolute best to get a result.
This week we will focus heavily on defence, teamwork and our opportunities to gain control of the mid-field. We will be trying a few positional changes to try and achieve this. If we can limit the amount of posession that players like Simon Vimpani, Daniel Edge and John Fernance have this will go along way to ensuring success.
The Rams will be looking to the usual suspects to stand up and perform well for this matchup. Pete Urquart and Brett Gallagher will be charged with keeping the goal scoring chances to a minimum at the back, Sean Henry will be moved into Centre half after two great performances last week while Ben Urquart and Matt Brown will be asked to get a handle on the mid field.
The bottom line for the Rams this week will be that we need to improve an our somewhat patchy performances of last week if we want to progress beyond this first matchup and get a crack at the $1000 purse. The winner of this match will be hard to stop in the Final." At 1pm Sydney Premier League rivals Ryde Hunters Hill and Glebe will be showcasing thier brand of hockey at the NIHC. Ryde has a very young team and were very good to watch on Matchday 1. Thier fast paced, short passing game was a treat to witness. glebe had a understrnegth squad for Matchday 1 but showed why they are a class side managing to qualify for the finals despite under manned. For all those people who never see hockey at its best, this is one game not to miss. New coach of Glebe, club legend Dean Benfield, posted the following comments: "Although day 1 proved to be more problematic for us than anticipated, I was pleased with many aspects of the matches on day 1. Mid week injuries and a couple of last minute drop outs saw us going to Maitland a weaker side than I had hoped for not to mention a couple of players short. With some good ball movement around field, some tidy finishing skills in the D and a little help from some local talent who offered to make up the numbers for us, we managed a close win in the match against Norths. Maitland proved a stronger adversary than expected in the second match and although we had played some very sound passages of play and were holding on at the half time break, the physical toll of oppressive heat that morning coupled with the ravages of having a big night on the Saturday night saw some very capable and experienced players come unstuck. Even though the score blew out in the end, there were still some positives to be taken away from the game, like our passing game in the 1st half and there also some valuable lessons learned about valuing ball possession when fatigue sets in such as in the 2nd half.
This week we go to Newcastle in a far stronger position than the trip to Maitland with a few more of our experienced 1st grade players. The whole squad trained well this and I am confident of a good result this week. So far this competition has proved to be an excellent pre-season preparation tool for us and it has given the players a much clearer understanding of where they are now and how much needs to be accomplished during this year." Ryde submitted their thoughts: "It was an interesting first day of the hunter cup which brought with it soaring temperatures and a mixture of very good hockey and not so. Our first game against wrests started out a very hard and fast game with the heat and the fact that west had already played a game in the heat and ryde was fresh the second half was going to be one sided west played to the end just as hard as they started which made it a good game all round.
Our second game we were up against south we were expecting a hard and fast game as our goalie Mick sneesby also plays for south and it started hard and caught our young guys sleeping with some very good attacking and defensive plays it took our young team not till second half to start playing the game our way this made the game a very good game in the end with south winning 3-2.
This Sunday we face traditional rivals Glebe, always a tough and competitive game. With both teams traversing with close to full squads it will be a very close game. Considering the standard of hockey last week any team will be hard to beat and the team that wins the hunter cup will have played a lot of good and hard hockey. At the end of the day hockey is the winner." Dont miss this opportunity to witness some top level hockey, this early in the season. On the field with the players will be some of the best umpires from the Hunter, with International Stewart Dearing leading the way, being supported by Scott New, John Mayers, David Willott and Joshua Willott. Hunterhockey.info wishes all teams, players and umpires the best on the day.
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Sydney teams get revenge over country rivals in Hunter Cup |
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Sunday, 07 March 2010 22:15 |
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The finals today saw some excellent action on the turf at Newcastle. SF 1 saw Souths defeat Maitland 4-3 in golden goal extra time. Souths took a lead into the break with Kyle Bosworth and Todd Palmer scoring for the Lions before Peter Urquhart was able to make the best of a PC routine gone wrong for Maitland. Matt Brown drew the Rams level at the 45 minute mark to set the scene for an exciting finish to the game. Simon Vimpani put Souths 3-2 up with 8 minutes to go with a lovely backstick shot from the top of the D, but Nathan Baker was able to deceive the Souths defence with a clever slow ball with 4 minutes to go to square it all up and into ET. 4 minutes in, John Fernance stole the ball from the Rams defender, stepped the keeper and slotted home the winner. SF 2 saw Ryde easily account for cross town rivels Glebe. 5-0 was the scoreline with Matt Wright, A Caton, Duncan Pearce and Nic McEwan getting the goals for the panthers. Glebe showed glimpses of their ability but just couldn’t get the job done down in the circle. The 3rd Place playoff saw Matchday 1 combatants Glebe and Maitland at it again. Most people would of tipped the Rams to win this one based on last weeks result and the form of the 2 teams in the semi’s, but Glebe showed why they are a force in the Sydney competition with a convincing 6-3 victory. Michael Wark scored a hattrick and Jake Ribarovski, Peter Wark and Ross Bougoukas got the other goals. The Rams were not at the same intensity as they had shown in the semi final, but would still be pleased with their efforts. Ben Urquhart got a double for the Rams before Cayde Tasker scored near fulltime to add some respectability to the score. The final saw matchday 1 combatants Ryde and South Newcastle renew acquaintances. Souths came into the game on the back of a tough semi over Maitland, and a psychological advantage having accounted for the Panthers in Matchday 1 3-2. Ryde have been up the freeway now 2 years in a row contesting Pre Season in Newcastle and have been in the final of those events now both times. This time though they were playing for the bounty of $1000 and a crack at the defending Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League champions. Souths got off to a good start after just 5 minutes when Kyle Bosworth smashed a curling dipping shot from a PC, just nudging the top of the backboard. Ryde responded and drew level after 25 mins when Alex Braude scored a simple tap in. 3 minutes later Bosworth notched his second from another PC, before Cameron Brown got Panthers back on level terms with a field goal just 30 seconds later. Right on half time Brown converted a PC to give Ryde the lead at the break. Matt Wright scored after 45 minutes and the pressure was on Souths to respond and the man of the moment Kyle Bosworth smashed home a goal to trail 4-3. It was pretty tense for the next 10 minutes as both teams tried to establish their dominance, however with 12 minutes to go the wind was knocked out of Souths sails as Alex Braude received the ball on the dot before turning and beating Wade sharrock in the Souths goal for a 5-3 lead. At this point the tide turned in favour of ryde, who were able to take full advantage of their youth and maintain the high tempo as Souths began to tire. Goals to Wright and Ben Craig blew the score out to 7-3 at fulltime. A highly entertaining game. Congratulations to Ryde for their victory. The $1000 courtesy of Team Sports will know doubt be well spent.
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Junior players hook into hockey |
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 09:00 |
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COURTESY MAITLAND MERCURY With ex-Maitland Rams player Simon Orchard representing the Kookaburras at the World Cup in India this week, hockey has reached new heights in his former home town. The Maitland District Hockey Club has more than 80 children participating in its Hook in2 Hockey program – a record high for NSW. “It would be pretty close to an Australian record, but it is easily the largest Hook in2 Hockey centre in NSW,” club development officer Steve Orchard said. “In Sydney, Glebe ran one with 20 and Ryde had 25. “We have just had an excellent response.” It is the third year Maitland has run the program, designed as the national entry point for players aged 6-12 years, and Steve said numbers at Maitland Hockey Complex had doubled from 2009. He put the increase down to a couple of factors. “We have done the hard yards and the association has put a lot of effort into the program,” he said. “We have promoted it well, I have toured around the schools and we now have a wonderful facility at Maitland Park...maybe the persistence has paid off or we just hit the right note at the right time.” He also said the coverage that Simon, his eldest son, has received in the press with his Australian selection had helped lift the profile of the sport in the area. The kids have one week left of the three-week Hook in2 Hockey program before the Kookaburra competition for under-7 and under-10 players begins at Maitland. “The important thing for us is to keep it fun for the kids,” he said. “Staying healthy is important as well, but playing sport is about having fun with your mates. “After they have a taste of hockey, hopefully a few of them sign up next week.”
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stevemina1
scotty
COURTESY MANNING RIVER TIMES
The 2010 HCPHL season is nearly upon us, and once again FHE.com.au is proud to partner with HunterHockey.info and bring us the HCPHL Tipping Competition.