SL1 Panthers climb to top of the tree in season 2010

Saturday saw Waverley’s top Men’s and Women’s sides take to the field with the opportunity to finish 1st in their respective SL1 divisions. The SL1 Men this week headed out to Essendon Hockey Ground to battle the home-side under the leadership of the “Chief Panther”, Zac Hawes. As with the previous week, Waverley were missing both Tim Wischusen and Travis Brooks, for this crucial game, who were away with the Victorian Vikings, playing in the AHL finals series.

The SL1 top 4 was in the balance, with the possibility of 3 of the 4 sides all finishing on 38 points, with only goal difference to decide the final placings, the minor premiership and the much desired second chance in what will be a hard fought finals series. With 2 of the top 4 sides already having played all 18 games and Camberwell with the task of playing last placed Melbourne Univeristy, 1st place was up for grabs for the Panthers if they did the hard work. The equation was simple: if Waverley lost, they would finish 5th and out of the finals race altogether. If they drew with Essendon, Waverley would finish 3rd, in finals but without a second chance and no possibility of a week off. However, a win would place the Panthers in 1st position, and give them the best chance of taking home the SL1 premiership in 2010.

A later start saw the Waverley boys take to the field at 3.30 pm on Saturday afternoon for this important game. Zac’s Men began the game with fierce intensity, taking the ball to start the game, and immediately creating an attacking play. This early momentum saw the Waverley boys up and around their forward circle in the first 10 seconds of play, looking like it was going to be a day out for the boys in navy blue and white. This was not to be the case. When turned over, Essendon went streaming forward with plenty of run and carry, and seemed to get an extra man up in their attacking half. This quickly translated into a scoring opportunity, which was put away by the Bombers extra man, on the post, to put the home side up 1-0. With this dramatic swing of momentum, Essendon were motivated by their chance to play finals for the first time in several years. This continued with the home side slotting another 2 goals in quick succession to put the shell-shocked panthers down 0-3 only 15 min into this round 18 clash.

Jogging back to the half line after that third goal, the Panthers knew they were going to have to dig deep if they were to “continue on the journey” that coach Zac Hawes and the playing group had set for them selves in the early stages of pre-season 2009/2010. A number of players weren’t having their best day, requiring a couple of quiet reminders from the coach. Along with this, the men at the core of Waverley’s defensive unit, lead by Corey Joseph, pulled themselves and those around them into shape, in a bid to switch the momentum of the game just one more time. The next attacking effort from the Waverley boys saw a scrap around the goal line that was eaten up by Wes ‘Old Pro’ Moore, who never misses a tough opportunity to put one in when required. With half time inching closer and closer, Zac felt as though his Men probably needed one more goal on the board to put them in the position required to take a victory from this difficult position.
With only seconds remaining in the first half, Waverley were awarded a short corner. The decision was made in the huddle at the top of the circle that Steve Jarvis, Waverley’s first real drag-flicking specialist since Luke Doerner, had the task of putting the game within reach before the half way-point in the match. The push came out lightening fast from ‘Old Pro’, trapped dead, from which the ball was hurtled towards the goals… The ball came into contact with an Essendon player on the post, from whom it was deflected into the goals, causing Waverley to celebrate. This celebration, however, was cut short by the umpires rushing over to each other to confer whether or not the goal was in fact a goal. To Waverley’s dismay, and Essendon’s delight, the umpires awarded another short corner due to the line of the “ball just missing the goals”. As I myself thought, “if it’s a corner, then it’s a goal. Surely ‘advantage’ goes to Waverley”. This decision again, was short lived, and due to a few quite words from the Waverley players, coach, coaching staff, managers and supporters, common sense prevailed and the umpires turned their decision over once more to award Waverley a goal. Half time saw the Panthers 2-3 down.

A passionate Zac Hawes lay down the law to his troops in his half time address. Volumes of which, were heard by some of the Waverley faithful on the other side of the ground. This stirring speech set the scene for the second half, with the Waverley Men having absolutely no doubt in their minds of what was required on every level in order to take home the chocolates.
Waverley began the second half with a structure and flow to their game that was much more recognisable to those who watch regularly. The ball was moved swiftly around the back three and the forwards seemed to have a lot more fluidity in their leads and attacking play. Although this didn’t translate into a flood of goals, the ball rarely reached Waverley’s defensive circle and created many attacking opportunities for the Panthers. Early in this second half, it was none other than Wes ‘Old Pro’ Moore, who once again stepped up to the plate to score the equaliser and place the momentum firmly in Waverley’s favour. Not surprisingly, the experienced players perform in big games such as these and it was again the ‘Old Pro’ whom secured the lead for the Panthers mid-way through this second half to make it 4-3 and give Zac’s Men the lead for the first time in the match.

Although Waverley had the lead, they knew that one breakaway for the opposition could be the difference between finishing 1st or 3rd at the end of season 2010. With this in mind, there was one or two attacking plays from Essendon, however, these were repelled by keeper Tom Scott and his defence. Waverley managed several more attacking plays in last 10 minutes of the game, one of which resulted in a short corner. Knowing that a goal would secure top spot and put the game out of reach for the home-side, the Panthers put their best foot forward. With Waverley’s corner battery looking vastly different from the previous 3 years, they have converted significantly more opportunities this year, with this occasion being no exception. With a long bunt from new Waverley recruit Lewis Mathews, the ball was delivered to Simon Preston wide on the left who was able to lace out a pass to Danny Brennan on the spot. He made no mistake, deflecting the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net, to secure the win, secure top spot on the SL1 ladder and reward the boys with the minor premiership in season 2010.

The boys celebrated with measure, knowing that although it was a great win, “a roller-coaster ride” (Aaron ‘Sparrow’ Swindells’), that the hard work was only about to begin. The Waverley boys are doing all that they can to prepare themselves for a 1st Vs 2nd clash this week against Hawthorn, which began with an early Sunday morning recovery session at Elwood Beach. The State Hockey Centre will be host to the SL1 finals series, with all games being held on Sundays. The winner of this week’s game will get a week off and head straight into the SL1 Grand Final.
Please come and support your clubs top side this weekend on SUNDAY at 2pm at the SHC. ‘Chief Panther’ Zac Hawes demands it!!

Zac BOG (best on ground) went to Corey Joseph
Skin Institute MVP ($100) went to Wes ‘Old Pro’ Moore