Posts Tagged Mens State League 1

Once again the Panthers annual Senior Presentation Night is fast approaching and is shaping up to be a memorable night for all.

The WHC has had yet another successful year on and off the field throughout the 2010 period – Especially with the double header wins of our elite SL1 Men and Women teams, so let’s see season 2010 out with a bang.

Seats and reserved tables are filling up fast so gather your teammates and get involved.

Where: Manningham Hotel (Bullen)
When: 29th October, 7:00pm-12:00am
Dress: After 5 (cocktail)

Payments are due in no later than Friday 22 October 2010, so please get in early and confirm your attendance by purchasing your ticket(s). Please see the attached flyer for payment details. For any queries, or to confirm table arrangements, please phone Rachel Sheppard 0439 360 922.

Click on link below to download form:

WHC 2010 Presentation Night Flyer Order Form

A few photo’s from the Grand Finals of our top teams – will be updated as we photos are uploaded

CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER VERSION

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

Waverley Hockey Clubs top men’s side took one step closer this weekend towards playing a significant role in Victoria’s most elite competition, State League 1 (SL1).

With the Australian Hockey League (AHL) this year being played intermittently throughout the regular SL1 season, many games have been moved around to accommodate sides that have a number of players representing their state. As a result of this, a number of the clubs in the SL1 top 4 have already played all 18 rounds of the regular season, with ladder points and goal difference already decided. Prior to the commencement of round 17 saw Waverley sitting 4th on the SL1 ladder, although only 2 points separated 1st to 4th.

Coming up against a solid opponent, in MCC, this was a must win game for the club. Waverley were missing two of their stars from the midfield and forward line due to AHL commitments, however, the players that replaced them in the side this weekend took their opportunities and played a significant role on the day. The venue for Saturday’s encounter was played at Victoria’s premium hockey facility, the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Parkville.

Waverley started the game well, controlling the play early. Firm ball movement around the back and hard running up front saw the Panthers get early an pay off through a short corner. From this, the Panthers were able to put their first goal on the board through Tim Thompson, whom put the ball in the top of the net. Not long after this, Waverley made it 2-0 through their highest goal scorer of the season, Aaron ‘sparrow’ Swindells, which brings his tally to 12.

At this point, the momentum began to change a little with MCC having multiple attacking plays. Eventually this resulted in a short corner, which was converted, making the score 2-1. As Waverley slowly regained ascendancy late in the first half, the panther’s key short corner weapon, Steve Jarvis, stepped up to the plate and delivered what was required. At the half time break, the score line stood at Waverley 3, MCC1.

After a stirring half time talk from coach Zac Hawes, the Panthers took to the pitch with renewed desire and vigor. With multiple attacking plays early in the second half, Waverley went without reward for some time. With 15 minutes remaining in the game, however, Luke Anthony was able to run around behind the MCC defence and along the base line and give a perfectly weighted cross to Nick Dallimore who put away the opportunity to make it 4-1. With Waverley firmly in the drivers seat, 5 minutes later saw Nick Dallimore again with possession of the ball inside the attacking circle, but this time he returned the favour and passed to Luke Anthony on the post to seal the game at 5-1.

This result means that Waverley are only one game away from finishing in the top 4 and playing a significant role in the SL1 finals in 2010. The top 4 sides are so close on points, however, that a win in round 18 will mean Waverley finishes 1st but a loss puts them 5th and out of the finals. This massive game will see the Panthers take on Essendon at Essendon on Saturday at 3.30 pm.

The annual Waverley Hockey Club $1000 Club Day is upon us once again and is shaping up to be a great day around the club. WHC looks forward to playing five exciting games against Doncaster HC, hosting a luncheon for our current sponsors as well as socialising with a number of council members: local, state and federal.

WHEN – Saturday 31st July from 11PM.

TICKETS – $30 ticket for entry into the $1000 draw, two drinks of your choice and a sausage.

TARGET 1000 – Let’s aim for 1000 people to come through those gates on Saturday to show the proud and dominant force that Waverley HC is.

The day kicks off strongly with our two impressive under 9’s teams taking the field against Doncaster’s best under 9’s. The Under 9 Panthers will be looking to cement their 1st and 2nd places on the ladder – The next generation look strong! The club encourages parents and their kids to stay on for the day – We are supplying two jumping castles and have a Cub Card available for purchase on the day.

Cub Cards – $5 will get the kids one soft drink, a sausage and unlimited time on our two jumping castles.

Following will be an 120 strong minkey brigade taking the field to showcase the future of the club. Club members from State League 1, Pennant A and B will be down to help out coaching the minkeys program from 10:30am. Doncaster minkeys are also making the trek to Waverley HC to join in the fun. Again the club encourages the minkeys to stick around and to make use of the Cub Card!

WHC will welcome sponsors, supporters and council members at 12:00 noon to the club for a great day of socialising, food and hockey!

The third placed Pennant A Men will be looking for a win against the fourth placed Doncaster at 12:30pm – A win could potentially boost the team to first place!

2:00pm will showcase the clubs best Men’s talent with the State League 1 taking the field against Doncaster. The boy’s are coming off a strong win against Greensborough at home. They will ensure a fast paced, skillful and exciting game for the the home crowd to enjoy.

3:00pm Will see the $1000 draw begin, make sure you have tickets (ONLY $30!).

3:30pm the third placed Women’s Pennant A team will take on second placed Doncaster in what should be a well fought match to cement a finals spot!

5:00pm will showcase the final match of the day with the Pennant D Women looking to knock off a lowly PEGS to ensure a finals berth coming into the business end of the season.

Remember to show your support by getting down for the day to ensure we reach TARGET 1000.

Look forward to seeing you there

Waverley 3 defeated by Essendon 4.

The third placed Waverley hosted the fourth placed Essendon at home looking to cement a top two position at the half way point of the season.

The Panthers entered the game missing three of its stars: Tim Wischusen, Corey Joseph and Travis Brooks, due to AHL Viking commitments.

The Blue Boy’s showed no sign of instability, from the missing AHL representatives, with a clear dominance over the Essendon outfit. However, the Panthers kept the large home-crowd on edge with a couple of early chances failing to find the net.

It wasn’t until the fifteenth minute when Stephen Jarvis slapped a penetrating pass to Sparrow Swindells on the dot who promptly slotted a turn-around-jumper into the corner, 1-0.

This increased the ferocity in the game and history repeated itself showing that ‘no love was lost’ when Tim Thompson came off the pitch requiring stitches in his nose.

The Waverley boys rallied, bringing wave after wave of attack on the Essendon defence. Finally, the defence cracked with a well placed pass from young gun Lewis Mathews down the left gifting Simon Preston space to work, he didn’t disappoint, placing the ball past the keeper to bring the score 2-0 to Waverley.

Waverley continued its dominance with Stephen Jarvis again stepping up with a wonderful overhead pass which found Simon Preston in full stride. A cheeky mid-air tap to Danny Brennan saw him draw two defenders and outlet it straight back to S.Preston who slammed home the ball with a diving slap from the left to record his second – giving Waverley a solid 3-0 at half time.

After such an amazing first half the game looked done and dusted, or so we thought.

A rejuvenated Essendon re-entered with a point to prove. Essendon were able to convert two penalty corners from their Belgium corner specialist, which bought the scoreline to a very dangerous position of 3-2.

Waverley were under the pumped and held firm whilst trying to turn the tide. However, a full field overhead from Essendon found a free attacker who converted the field goal. Essendon pushed on and found a fourth goal from the field to take the lead late in the game, 4-3.

Waverley had last ditch effort with the Essendon keeper being sent off with three minutes left on the clock. Yet, Waverley were unable to find that final finish with various field goal attempts and two corner being stonewalled.

ZACBOG – Jarrod Glascock

The Skin Institute Award – Lewis Mathews

Goals – S.Preston 2 & Swindells 1.

The weekend saw the first ‘Super Saturday’ held at the State Hockey Centre, seeing all State League 1 games fixtured on pitch 1.  The Panthers faced up against Melbourne University a team recently promoted from State League 2.

Waverley was out to stamp their authority on the game early by placing MUHC under constant pressure, hoping to find cracks in their defence.  The past few weeks have seen the Panthers struggle to convert early ascendancy in games into scoreboard pressure but Aaron Swindells made sure that trend didn’t continue.  Two almost identical goals saw the striker slot wonderful diving back-stick shots, getting the Panthers off to a flying start.

The entire first half was dominated by Waverley and with constant pressure on their deep defence and midfield, the MUHC sidefailed to get any real penetration into their attack.  Patience and quality ball movement allowed Waverley forwards to manipulate the opposition’s defence and commence a goal scoring spree, banging in 6 goals up to the half time mark.

The challenge was laid down at half time to continue to attack and take the game to the Melbourne University team.  Only 2 weeks prior with a similar score line the Panthers had given the opposition a sniff after the break changing the entire flow of the game so coach Zac Hawes demanded his players ‘go on with it’ and bury the opposition.

Tim Thompson finished off a well earned penalty stroke and on his 21^st Birthday, Stephen Jarvis was on song finishing with a hat-trick of goals from well executed penalty corners, the Waverley goal scoring spree rolled on throughout the second half.

With complete dominance of the game, a disappointing late goal was conceded, however the Panthers had achieved what they set out to do finishing off the match and scoring another 5 goals in the second half to annihilate the opposition 11-1.

Goal Scorers: S. Jarvis 3, A. Swindells 2, T. Wischusen 2, J. Glasscock 1, D. Brennan 1, T. Thompson 1, T. Brooks 1.

Coach’s Best on Ground: Aaron Swindells

Skin Institute Best on Ground Award: Stephen Jarvis

The Waverley Panthers ventured out to Greensborough this week hoping to notch up their second win in 3 rounds. Waverley got off to another great start putting the Greensborough defence on to the back foot early. Simon Preston and Tim Wischusen were again providing strong attacks down the left and right flanks worrying the Greensborough defence with their elimination skills and superior pace. After having the majority of play in their attack Waverley found the scoreboard through a clinically executed penalty corner by Stephen Jarvis, drag flicking the ball low into the corner.

The goal seemed to rattle Greensborough and with the Panthers turning up the pressure, Greensborough found themselves making uncharacteristic mistakes in deep defence allowing the Panthers to continue penetrate their attacking circle. As Swindells, Wischusen began to tighten the noose on the defence, they provided an opportunity for Travis Brooks to capitalise on their hard work, with Wischusen dispossessing their Right Half, squirting an early ball to Brooks who found himself in acres of space and was able to waltz in and drill the ball past the keeper.

With Waverley having full ascendancy on the game and the Greensborough defence under the pump, Waverley had put themselves in an ideal position to run away with the game. Disappointingly and like weeks preceding, the final minutes of the first half saw the Panthers concede a late goal, giving Greensborough a sniff going into the second half with the scores at 2-1.

The second half saw Waverley continue to dominate with Wes Moore and Jarrod Page through the midfield setting up wave after wave of attack. However the number of opportunities that weren’t converted to goals became worrying and with each miss, Greensborough’s belief began to grow. They began stringing passes together and their off the ball running had the Panthers struggling to keep up. After having such a stranglehold on the game, a shocked Waverley saw the equalising goal slotted by Greensborough, and now it was the Panthers turn to ride out the storm.

The defence lead by Corey Joseph and Matthugh Freeman, stood strong, but there was only so much they could do holding off assault after assault by the opposition. Unlike Waverley, Greensborough converted their opportunities and scored twice in quick succession leaving the Panthers stunned with the scoreline 4-2 down with 10 minutes to go.

Needing a spark to get the Panthers outfit up and about again, newcomer Lewis Matthews stepped up controlling the ball on a string through the midfield and kick-starting the Waverley fight back. Still defending a persistent Greensborough, Waverley needed to score and score fast. Stephen Jarvis found the net again with a powerful drag flick from a penalty corner, but it turned out to be too little, too late as the Panthers went down 4-3 to Greensborough.

Hola amigos de la bonita ciudad de Barcelona!!

For those that don’t know me, I’m Seb Mutimer from the Men’s State League 1 team and the new Sponsorship committee member within the club – I thought I would put up a post on the website

Since the end of the last season I have been in Europe: travelling, learning Spanish and playing hockey for around ten months – An amazing experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

My aim for the trip was to live in another country, become part of the culture, learn its language and discover a new brand of hockey to improve my game for Australia. In between all of this I have travelled extensively throughout Europe for 10 months including: Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Morocco, Portugal and Spain (where I live in Barcelona).

I have been asked a million times which is my favorite country, an impossible task to pick – If I had to choose though, it would be a dead heat between Portugal and Spain, purely based on the experiences, people and culture that these places hold.

During my time over here I have met some amazing people that will be lifelong friends as well as experiences I will never forget. The incredible music festival in Amsterdam on my birthday, La Carnaval in Sitges Spain, skiing the Dolomites of Italy, Las Fallas Festival in Valencia, Las Semanas in Sevilla, Oktoberfest in Munich Germany, Paris whilst it is snowing, New Years in Barcelona, watching the greatest soccer team of our time (Barcelona FC) playing in Camp Nou, the parties in Scandinavia, the mind-blowing culture shift of Morocco and the beautiful beaches of Portugal as well as skydiving over the Algarve coast – just to name a few!

On to the hockey!

The dream to play and live overseas was helped along by a good Spanish friend I met and played against a few years ago in Melbourne – Borja Campos who played for Doncaster SL1 and also plays for the National Barcelona team and is my roommate. He organized me to play for the Masculina Primera Barcelona Equipa, my registrations, licensing and accommodation – which made everything amazingly easy for me!

Before Christmas two of my best friends (from Amsterdam) and I were playing for the Segundo division, as we arrived 2 rounds into the season and due to licensing and international player rules we were not allowed to be promoted until after Christmas – during this time we bought the Segundo division to the top of the table.

We now play for the Primera Division in a tightly contested 12 team division where the next three rounds can decide between playoffs and relegation for 6 teams (two up two down relegation system). So the stakes are high at the moment and training as amped up a bit!

The Barcelona FC has been a great club for me and is well organized with 2-3 trainings a week, a physical trainer for an hour before training, two water base grounds (with one commencing resurfacing recently) as well as free access to the Barcelona physio (same one the soccer players use!) in Camp Nou. We also travel around Spain to play clubs in other cities, such as Valencia and Madrid. These trips are all expense paid over the weekend and are a fantastic experience.

I have around 3 weeks left in my trip and it’s going to be busy. A trip to Valencia to play Valencia HC, a flight to Nice to visit some Australian friends, watching the Champions league of Barcelona FC as well as the Handball for Barça, heading to Amsterdam for Queens Day with my Dutch mates and another skydive!

It has been something I will never forget and urge all younger players to consider it after their schooling or graduate programs as a gap year. If you want any info or have any questions im always around the club to have a chat and share my tips and experiences. I will be seeing you all around the club very soon!

FORÇA BARÇA!

Ciao ciao, bueno suerte equipos de Waverley!
Sebástian

Click on any picture for the full size, have toooooo many pictures to upload but here is a couple.

The mens State League 1 team are playing a practice game against Altona at Altona on Thursday night (April 1st) at 7pm. If you would like to take in a game of hockey then come along and support the team as it prepares for season 2010.