TEM Juniors Weekly Review #10
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U16 Shield – TEM U16 Shield team hit the ground at Altona almost exactly as the cold front hit Melbourne. Possibly better conditioned to the arctic temperatures and horizontal rain, Altona was quickly in front. Despite moving the ball better through the midfield thanin recent weeks, the TEM defence was leaking goals at a concerning rate and were 0-6 down at the break.
Cowering in the dugout as the hail commenced, the team resolved to do better in the second half, and opened with two convincing attacks through the shallow waters of the right wing. As it turned out, TEM tied the second half at 0-0 when the umpires abandoned play shortly thereafter. Some will call it a get out of jail decision for Altona, others will say it was the mercy rule in disguise. No-one will never know. But one thing is for certain: the team will need to lift when they meet Hawthorn for the battle of the co-tenants at H1 next Friday at 9.30. Special thanks to Luke Graven for making the big drive from Doncaster to Altona to double-up after a late injury withdrawal.
U16 District – The U16 District team had a massive improvement this week with a 7 goal turn around against the top team in the division. TEM had Campbell Marshall down back,
and looked just as good in the midfield with plenty of great running and leading. TEM didn't have a lot of circle action up front but when they did it looked dangerous with the goalie having to make a few diving saves.
U14 Girls Shield – The Under 14 Girls had a tough match down in Geelong on Friday night. Geelong came out firing and the score was locked at 1-1 until the girls found their groove in the second half, slotting away three goals to run out winners 4-1. Thanks to Kester Brown who coached the girls.
U14 Girls Pennant – U14 Girls Pennant had a 6-0 loss to equal first placed Knox. After a rather slow start the girls came out hard and had an impressive start to the second half, generating some quality attacking play through the midfield. However with no players on the bench the girls seemed to struggle with the relentless attack from Knox, leaking a few too many goals late in the second half. Well done to Emma Laird for making a number of brilliant saves throughout the match. Next up the team has a home game against Casey. Last time TEM played them it was a 0-0 hopefully this week the girls can nail their first win!
U14 Shield – TEM travelled to Doncaster last Friday night to take on the league leaders. The Under 14 Shield team started slowly and Doncaster were fired up early, leaving Donny to put in two goals within the first five minutes of the match. After a period of being under the pump, the team stood firm for the rest of the half going into the break only conceeding one more for the next 25 minutes. After half time it was a much better display as TEM regrouped and got their passing game going and put on a better half. The final result was 6-0 down but with plenty to work on.
U14 District- TEM U14 Mixed District beat Powerhouse 2-1. After an average first half the team came back strongly to create some great opportunities to score. Bennet West scored both goals for TEM, while the whole team did extremely well to come back and play some fantastic hockey to win the match.
U12 Shield –To engage some rather distracted Under 12 boys, the pre-match team talk called for the lads to imagine that they were about to do a Pokemon battle. The strategies were around how to get the Pokemon ball into the net. A gallant effort was shown against a strong Footscray outfit (in sub-Arctic conditions in the West). Thank you to Samuel Jackson, Sam Edney, and Sandy Edmondson for bolstering the numbers - with young Jackson nearly securing his first Pokemon Shield goal! In the end the score was a 5-1 loss.
Ongoing practice and repetition of the basic hockey skills are required - with many of the boys continuing to need passing and trapping acquisition. A work in progress. Some practice outside the Thursday night training session (if possible) may help to expedite individual progress. Only 4 more matches to go. This season has flown. Next week the boys will contest Hawthorn at H1 at 8am. Let's be ready to rumble!
U12 Girls - U12 Girls defeated Doncaster 2-0. The girls have been continuing to play well, scoring 2 short corner goals this week. TEM defence was very solid and didn't allow the opposition to enter into their circle. The forwards had many more opportunities to score, so hopefully next week will make the most of these. Well done all!
U12 District Lions – This week saw a number of new faces to the U12 Lions team, with a handful of Tigers players filling in. The boys played a great game across the field. They linked extremely well through the midfield and came out with a 1 all draw to Powerhouse. Othello Coates played notably well weaving through multiple players to score the equalizing goal. Lastly, a special thanks again to the Tigers players who filled in.