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NSW Country teams confirmed
Thursday, 24 June 2010 09:23

NSW Country teams have been officially announced. The teams will compete in the Australian Country championships in Canberra from July 31 to August 7th.

 2010 MENS NSW COUNTRY SIDE 2010 WOMENS NSW COUNTRY SIDE
Mitch Britton (Lithgow)
Daniel Carter (Central Coast)
Benjamin Chew (Tamworth)
John Fernance (Newcastle)
Kieran Gentles (Orange)
Matthew Harmon (Grafton)
Ben Hawken (Parkes)
Tristan Hunt (Newcastle)
Graham Isedale (Southern Highlands)
Dean Robertson (Goulburn)
Nicholas Sharp (Orange)
Michael Sneedsby (Newcastle)
Graeme Thompson (Parkes)
Steve Tuddenham (Illawarra)
Simon Vimpani (Newcastle)
Jeremy Walzak (Nepean)

Ashley Allen (Tamworth)
Alice Budden (Tamworth)
Ashley Cocking (Newcastle)
Kristy Conroy (Bathurst)
Melissa Greer (Newcastle)
Kimberley Hill (Lithgow)
Jessica Hotham (Bathurst)
Kirsten Howard (Bathurst)
Carolyn Margetts (Illawarra)
Brooke McFadden (Wagga Wagga)
Erin McKenzie (Far North Coast)
Breanna Pyne (Lithgow)
Amanda Saladine (Lithgow)
Shelly Stevenson (Tamworth)
Sarah Watson (Illawarra)
Emily Younan (Newcastle)

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Sisters make state sides
Wednesday, 23 June 2010 13:03

COURTESY MANNING RIVER TIMES

SISTERS Caitlyn and Maddie Rosser will both represent New South Wales at hockey in August on opposite ends of the continent.

Caitlyn will play for NSW Combined High Schools in Australia championships to be held in Newcastle. Maddie will be a member of the NSW under 16 All Schools team to play in the national titles in Perth.

This will be the first time Caitlyn has represented her State. She will play striker.

Maddie was a member of the NSW open team last year when aged just 14. She will also play striker.

Both play for Tigers in the Manning division one competition and attend Taree High School.

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Locals make ADF team
Wednesday, 23 June 2010 08:18

At the completion of the Defence Force titles 2 HCPHL players have been named in the National ADF team to compete at the Australian Country Championships.

Congratulations to Mark Ross from Wests, and Warwick Smith from Souths who both did enough to make the squad.

2010 ADF National Team - Men

Coach: Andrew Bewick, Assistant Coach: Scott Downs, Manager: William McConnell

SQUAD: Mark Ross (NSW) Kai Wakefield (ACT) Warwick Smith (NSW) Kent Moores (VIC) Peter Nugent (SA) Derryk Bunt (WA) Brendan Taylor (VIC) Shaun Buckett (NSW) Gareth Hoddinott (VIC) Jack Francis (ACT) Jason Lamb (VIC) Evan Waine (ACT) Dale Birt (QlD) Matt Collingwood (NSW) Ben Garard (QLD) Gus Robertson (NT) Shadows Chris Hill (ACT) Phil Dumpleton (NT) Phil Southern (WA) Scott Duffy (ACT) Pete McGrath (NT) Andrew Henderson (ACT) Alex Strickland (NT) Andrew Connell (ACT) Ashley Birt (QLD) Mitch Fahrul Saaid (ACT)

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Turning the tables
Tuesday, 22 June 2010 13:09

COURTESY MAITLAND MERCURY

The Maitland Rams chances of claiming the Hunter Coast Men’s Premier League minor premiership are still alive after they thumped Souths 8-4 on Sunday.

The win signified a changing of the guard in the premier league, with Souths’ dominant reign over Maitland crushed by a youthful Rams’ team.

“In round five we beat them 4-3 to end a run of about eight years of losses,” Rams coach Nathan Baker said.

“But 8-4 is just a massive win and it’s a huge turnaround from last year.”

Baker said Sunday’s win came on the back of a concerted team effort.

“It was a really good performance from everybody,” he said.

“The first half was really tough but I think our fitness and youth played major parts in the win.”

Baker said the best evidence of youth being the major contributing factor was when Souths and Newcastle representative team captain-coach Simon Vimpani moved himself from centre-half to the wing to avoid being marked by the 20-year-old Ben Urquhart.

“Ben was just mauling him (Vimpani) and he decided to move out of his preferred position to get away from him,” Baker said.

The Rams led 2-1 at the break despite going a goal behind after 15 minutes.

In the second stanza the Rams came out and ran rampant over Souths,

breaking out to a 6-1 lead before their opponents pulled it back to 6-3.

From there the two teams went goal for goal, with the Rams’ final two coming from the penalty corner.

Peter Urquhart and Matt Brown bagged a double while Baker, Ben Urquhart, Cayde Tasker and Brett Gallagher also scored.

Baker told his troops before the match he would have been happy with a 1-0 win and didn’t expect his team to go on a goal-scoring spree.

“We shared the goals around and played well as a team but we never imagined we’d put eight past them,” he said.

“I would have been happy if it was nice and tight and I didn’t care how many we won by, but our passing and running game really clicked.”

The 8-4 hammering and The Entrance’s 5-4 loss at the hands of Norths moved Maitland to second on the ladder.

“It was a really important game for us and we needed to win and play well to stay in touch with Norths,” Baker said.

“We’re still a shot at claiming the minor premiership but our run at that would have ended if we’d lost on Sunday.”

The Rams will head to Newcastle on Sunday to play a top-of-the-table match against Norths but may be without Peter and Ben Urquhart, who have been asked to play for their Sydney club Norwest Strikers in the Alan Yates Shield.

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Souths stand between Rams and minor title
Thursday, 17 June 2010 11:33

COURTESY MAITLAND MERCURY

Maitland Rams coach Nathan Baker is under no illusions how important his team’s clash with Souths is on Sunday.

Baker believes a loss for the Rams at Newcastle Hockey Centre will bring their run at a minor premiership grinding to a halt.

“We really need to win this one to keep in touch with Norths who are at the top of the table,” he said.

“A loss would mean Norths have a four or five point buffer on us, which will be really hard to peg back in the third round.”

The Rams are expected to be at full strength with everyone except the Urquhart brothers, Pete and Ben, well rested from a week off.

The Urquharts will come up against four of their Newcastle teammates, fresh from a State Championship victory, including Newcastle and Souths captain coach Simon Vimpani.

The last time the two teams met, the Rams broke an eight-year losing streak with a 4-3 win and will be keen to start their own winning streak against their fiercest rivals.

The Rams take on Souths at Newcastle Hockey Centre at noon on Sunday.

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Acacia named in state PSSA side
Friday, 18 June 2010 13:01

COURTESY MANNING RIVER TIMES

FROM freezing conditions at Lithgow to the Gold Coast. That's the journey for Oxley Island Public School student Acacia Cann, who will represent NSW in the Australian Primary School Sports (PSSA) hockey championships in August.

Acacia gained a place after playing strongly for Hunter in the State titles held at Lithgow.

Hunter and Western were declared joint premiers after the sides played a gripping 1-1 draw in the final.

Acacia is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.

The NSW team will gather in Sydney before heading to the Gold Coast. Acacia played on the wing for Hunter and hopes to get a run in that position during the national championships.

She hopes the weather will be kinder on the Gold Coast than at Lithgow, where fog blanketed fields for early games while arctic-like temperatures and sleet made it tough for players and spectators.

Acacia rated the final as the hardest game of the two day championship. Western, Hunter's opponents, went into the match undefeated and had scored a 3-0 win over Hunter during a round game. However, Hunter were first on the board in the decider before Western levelled just before halftime.

The deadlock wasn't broken during a sea-sawing second section.

Acacia said she wasn't expecting to make the State team but is now looking forward to the national championship.

She was a member of the Hunter side last year that finished in fifth place at State.

Acacia plays for Sharks in the Manning junior and senior competitions, turning out for the under 13s, 15s and division three women.

Acacia started playing hockey about five years ago, starting with her good friend, Meg Ferguson.

However, she doesn't confine herself to the hockey field.

She will run in the State cross country at Eastern Creek on July 25 after finishing fourth in her age division at the regionals held recently at Maitland.

The 12-year-old is also a member of Taree Old Bar's junior surf club while she played touch football last summer.

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Brothers help break 27 year state hoodoo
Thursday, 17 June 2010 11:31

COURTESY MAITLAND MERCURY

Maitland Rams brothers Peter and Ben Urquhart helped Newcastle break a 27-year hoodoo at the state championships on the long weekend.

Newcastle fought back from 2-0 down to beat Illawarra 3-2 in the Division One Open State Championship final at Moorebank on Monday.

Norths player Alan Charlton put Newcastle back into the match on the stroke of half-time through a penalty corner but following the break the Urquhart brothers took over.

In the 50th minute of the match Peter flicked a pass to Ben, who rammed home an equalising goal.

With the scores locked at 2-all poor handling from Newcastle gifted possession and an open net to the Illawarra players who failed to take advantage of the simple chance.

The narrow miss galvanised Newcastle and after a penalty corner, in which both Ben and Peter handled the puck, Jaden Ekert provided the killer blow.

Newcastle were forced to hang on for two penalty corners after the siren before clinching victory.

It wasn’t the first time Newcastle was forced to fight back against Illawarra.

In the opening pool game Newcastle trailed 3-1 before they forced a 4-all draw.

Following that they came back to beat Grafton 4-3 before thrashing Tamworth 7-1 and easily getting past Sydney 5-1 in the semi-final.

Peter said the difference between the 2010 team and previous squads he’d been involved with came down to youth and exuberance.

“We had a lot of young players in key positions,” he said.

“Jordan Willot (17), Mitchell Allen-Waters (18), Liam Alexander (19) and Ben (20) all played strongly for us and gave us a lot of speed.

“The core of the team is under the 25-year mark, which is much younger than past years.”

Peter and Ben said the win ranked among their greatest achievements in hockey.

“It’s my first state championship in any age including juniors,” Ben said.

“I’ve won one before with Newcastle but it was in division two,” Peter said.

“It was really special to win it with Benny and have my parents there watching too.”

Peter said the players were inspired by team manager David Willot who played the year after Newcastle last won the state championship in 1983.

“It really fired us up when he told us how he had tried his whole career to win one and we were on the cusp of it,” he said.

“I think it meant a lot for him to be apart of it.”

The brothers indicated nothing would stop them from donning the red and blue of Newcastle again next year in a bid to defend their title.

The Urquhart brothers will have to come up against four of their Newcastle teammates on Sunday when the Rams take on Souths.

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