TEM Weekly Review #7

This week TEM hosted the Hockey Victoria Livestream round, and what a round it was! It was very exciting to have all the action unfolding on our home ground in front of the cameras.

A huge thank you to all those who turned out in support of the TEM teams over the weekend – fantastic to see so many numbers down at the club!

Mens Vic League 1 -With cameras rolling our MVL1 boys stepped out in front of a huge home crowd to take on the notoriously dangerous Frankston HC. Despite a solid start TEM were immediately on the back foot, with a drag flick into the roof which saw the home side go 0-1 down. No strangers to a come-back in 2016, our boys continued to fight creating a plethora of scoring opportunities.

The second half played out extremely similarly to the first with the TEM forwards peppering the goal and narrowly missing. On an overcast Sunday it looked like nothing would go TEM’s way, despite the countless shots and having a stroke our men were kept scoreless. Final score 0-1.  The VL1 boys are keen to right the wrongs from their performance last week against West Vic at home this Saturday.

Mens Vic League 1Reserves – The reserves were out early to start the Super Sunday Livestream round with a win at Hawthorn against a quality Frankston team. Early dominance and a flurry of shots hitting the post which would be the story throughout, resulted in two quick fire goals both ways to make it 1-1.

The boys kept the pressure throughout the game with goals to young guns Pat "The Postman" Cassidy, Charlie "Run all day" Westcott & Oli "Pipe down" Ritman meant a scoreline of 3-3 with not long left... Up stepped Charlie "I forgot my playing shirt" Blanchard who slotted the winner for a well earned win.

Mens Pennant A – A tight match between TEM and Hawthorn for the Men’s Pennant A team this week,  the game involved a strong contest from both teams with TEM controlling majority of the play. Unfortunately Hawthorn scored a late goal and finished with a 1-0 victory. Overall a disappointing outcome for TEMs Men pennant A, but at the same time the men put in a really great effort. This Saturday the team play top of the table Southern United. This will be a great opportunity to see how the boys fare against the top teams.

Mens Metro Red – TEM Metro Red started strong against a struggling Footscray team, with the midfield dominant against the oppositions 4 forwards/5 backs/ 1 floater approach. 5 well worked TEM goals and a gift from the opposition full back to Tim Stewart ensured the boys walked away with an easy 6-1 rout.

Mens Masters – TEM 35As lost to Waverley 1-8 and are 8th on the ladder, and the  35Bs drew 1-1 with Knox (who have won all their previous games) and are 5th on the ladder, only one point away from 4th position.

The 45Ds team beat Knox 3-1 and are on top of the ladder with 7 wins, 3 wins ahead of 2nd place. 50Bs had a bye this round and are equal 4th on the ladder with Camberwell who have played one more game.

Womens Premier League - With all the added excitement of the Livestream Round TEM Premier League Women were ready for a tough match up against 5th placed MCC. Unfortunately MCC got off to a ripper start, scoring a deflection goal within the first 5 minutes – an area of the game the TEM women really need to step up in during the weeks to come. TEM fought hard and dominated much of the defensive and midfield play, however went into the break 2-0 down after a strong penalty corner hit by MCC.

The girls did not look like a bottom of the ladder team, however were unable to put away their attacking chances, despite some great runs by Darci Kleinschmidt, Fran Flores and Courtney Hansford. In the second half the TEM defence remained very strong, with solid performances by Sam Wagg, Rachel Graven and Amelia Hough. Looking forward to taking o Camberwell in another home game this weekend and finally getting some more points on the board!

Womens Premier League Reserves –A great effort this week by the reserves who put up a good fight against MCC. The team went out strong, with Clare Douglas solid in defence, and one impressive save by Nikki Sonenberg diving on the line. 6 offensive and 3 defensive shorts later, but no goals led to a half time score of 0-0.

MCC snuck one in in the first five minutes of the second half. Rachael King brought her power creating some great opportunities coming out of defence. TEM were putting some great pressure on in the mid yet MCC scored again for a final score of 2-0. The goals will come but will have to wait for next week.

Womens Pennant A – Pennant A after a great week last week unfortunately didn’t have their best game this time around. However, in fairness, the girls were beaten by a better and much faster team, and went down to Footscray. The team is looking forward to another tough battle this week and if they bring their A game should be back on track!

Womens Pennant C –Pennant C went up against club rivals Hawthorn last weekend hoping for a win. The team went out hard in the first five minutes but unfortunately slipped behind in both intensity and skill execution early on and finished the game 5-0 down. Having lost to the top four teams and wins against the bottom three, TEM are sitting in the middle band of the ladder yet to play the other two in the middle. Hopefully the girls will  have a win against MCC next week so there's something to celebrate at the iPod shuffle party on Saturday!

Womens Metro Red – While everyone was enjoying the antics of Roary the Lion, Metro Red Women headed off to Brighton. Bayside struck first, then Liz Eager earned a corner and converted it! Basyside went up 2-1 late in the first half, getting through some scrappy defence.

Dtermined to lift their game, TEM played some great attacking hockey in the second half. Liz and Toni Skaife showed grit in picking off the opposition’s best player, Christie Freeman had a strong game at the back, and Leesa Needham scored off another corner. The highlight was that with only a few minutes to go, goalkeeper Eliza Shrimpton saved a stroke! Final score 2-2.

Womens Metro Blue - DIDN'T LOSE! A pretty great result for Metro Blue this week with a 2-2 draw against third on the ladder Southern United. 

After taking a short time to get used to the fast and bouncy surface, TEM found their rhythm as a team and worked really well together. The team utilised the young legs they had this week and had some really effective fast plays! Palma Casonato had an excellent game, constantly being eyes for all with very clear communication and support. Palma also made some ripper saves of almost certain goals. The girls grew more confident using switches, particularly on 16 yard hits, which really opened up the field and created great game plays.

Bailey Ryan was very strong and patient with her channelling of particularly fast players in defence, whilst Katie Jewell was very fast and strong in attack. Katrina Bishop held up defence on the left side very well, and her positioning to pass and the receive the ball in attack was equally as strong. Eliza McLaughlin scored both of TEMs goals, each with very convincing and satisfying cracks on the backboard, great job Lize! The team’s attacking short corners are improving each week, and more positive progress as a team will lead to further great results in the coming weeks. Thanks to James “Hef” McLaughlin for umpiring and Cam MacPhie for coaching. 

Womens Masters –Women’s Masters vs Mentone on the first night of winter and the air was crisp at Mentone. By mid afternoon the team only had 9 players as team members were dropping like flies. Luckily come match time TEM had 12 players,  thank you to all the fill-ins!

TEM dominated strongly in the first half. First goal was via a penalty stroke. Linking of the ball between players and darting around Mentone was TEM’s strongest play. By half time the ladies had scored 3 great goals. In the second half TEM were a little complacent and allowed Mentone to score 2 goals before the good defensive structure kicked back in. All in all a fun match for the old chooks!