Far South Coast Hockey insiders have been spilling the beans about their team-mates and put together some profiles across the grades ahead of the grand final on Saturday.
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Here is what the Pambula men’s line-up looks like:
Darcy Mullens – “Oh Captain, My Captain” Darcy’s confidence on the hockey field has shone this year. Taking control of the ball and getting it up to the front line at all costs. He’s becoming a pitbull and biting down and not letting go, Darcy’s finest year of hockey.
Keh Heyhorn – A Veteran’s comp injury set Ken back a few games in the middle of the comp, but he was back on board in time for finals at fine form. He will continue to confuse his opponents with his stick skills and air balls this weekend. We can already hear “GET ON KEN!” being shouted.
Daryl Kelland – The Goal Keeper has regained some lost confidence in his abilities as the season went on. He’s a master in the circle, possibly just at talking rubbish with his fellow defenders, but a master all the same. He’ll need to be on fine form to shut down Magpie’s attempts at goals this weekend.
Jayden Heyhorn – “Lil Ken” He may not like to hear it too often, but his skills with the stick resemble those of his father. Jayden slots into any position on the field and makes those switch stick moves look so easy.
Steven James – Like a human jumping bean, this player is everywhere at once. Confusing opposition players who think they have him marked before finding him 30 metres up the field getting ready to assist with a strike on goals.
Lachlan Sims – The controlling player of the front line, this season has seen Lachlan take new players under his wing to build an impressive front line. Taking that strike at goals or setting up a team mate, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with on Saturday.
Jayden Scott – Jayden’s first season in the game has shown some natural talent. Always ready in the circle for a big pass and a strike at the goals. Jayden a fantastic team player has a great future on the hockey field.
Samuel Brice – Samuel is another player who picked up a stick for the first time this year. Samuel’s speed and skill to pick up a hard slammed ball from the back lines and take it towards the circle may well see him bring Pambula some glory on the score board.
Peter Dowd – If you could combine a Bull with a Brick wall you’d have Peter. Charging at the opposition’s forwards and keeping them out of his circle. Many a player has been left on their backsides when Peter has held his ground. He’ll be needed to shut down the opposition attackers in the grand final.
Mark Carriage – “Hungry for carnage Carriage” This former Goal Keeper still puts his body on the line, taking those cracking ankle, leg and knuckle hits week in and week out. However, nothing will take him out of position unless it’s a full field dash to assist in a strike at goal.
Michael Hergenhan – A leg injury kept Michael out of the last round of semi’s, he’ll be back with a vengeance this weekend providing strength, skill and experience on the field as well as some cracking shots on goal.
Jack Allen – Jack’s first year floating up to Men’s grade and he has been an asset to the team. Able to comfortable fill any role on the field and fast enough to move between them. Jack is always ready to set up or score a goal for Pambula.
Nicholas Stanton – Talk about coming into form, 2016 has been Nick’s finest year. He has become a skilled member of the team and a great defender. He’ll be doing his best to keep the ball away from the Magpie attackers on the weekend.
Alex Norris – Always on the move, Alex starts his Saturdays smashing out the personal bests at Bega Parkrun before hitting the field in B grade, then unbelievably he still has enough in him to move around the field in the men’s comp. Alex is another great up and comer and an asset to the team.
Meanwhile, the Magpies were much more conservative and weren’t giving anything away before the big game.
Here’s what a club spokesman had to say:
The Bega Magpies have enjoyed a great year at hockey.
The boys have trained hard and have improved from last year with the Magpies passing game their strength.
The team is looking forward to this weeks grand final against the defending premiers Pambula, it will be a hard and fast game.
The men’s competition has been very competitive this year with little between the 4 teams.
There was a recurring theme with Elders remaining a bit tight-lipped ahead of their clash with United, but a club spokeswoman said this:
Elders
Looking for back to back Premierships this year.
We have strong combinations from the forward line to the back line.
Starting with Sam in the goals, helped by our backs Michelle & Jacinta, through the half line with the two Casey's, Emma & Joc. Brooke & Barb will be running tirelessly in the midfield feeding the ball through to our strikers Tracy, Anne & Ebony (not to mention Sophie & Jacinta who will be cheering from the sideline).
We have also had great support from our floaters Jas, Emma & Halle throughout the season. Good training sessions on Friday nights with the Magpies has helped strengthen our short passing game which we will rely on for finals day. We have had a great year girls, let's hope we can cap the season off with a win
United
Players from the United Hockey team are looking forward to their first shot at a grand final game this Saturday after a couple of seasons playing together in the local comp. Led by Australian Masters representative player Leigh Rogers, the team has enjoyed a great year on field, clocking up plenty of wins to finish second on the ladder and delivering solid wins in the finals series to secure their grand final berth.
Captain Leigh Rogers works hard in every game to control and build the play from the midfield, with solid support from Helen Comerford, Lucy Maddern and Helen Hayward. The defence line up sees Sarah Nielson and Lynne Koerbin combining well on the backline to keep the opposition attackers out of the circle, with Vanessa Causer in goals, always there as the last line of defence.
United are solid in both defence and attack, and in recent weeks their passing game and movement of play in attack has been improving all the time. Striker Kath Sirl has been showing some fancy skills with her special floating stick and teams up well with Wendy Thoms, Alina Matterson and Cheryl Maddern to find the back of the net when it counts. Newcomers Emma Kendall, Nicola Jones and
Lisa Milton have all been welcome additions to the team this year, and each has found their niche on the forward line to help build the attacking play. Junior floaters Amber Myers and Libby Milton have also been a huge help through the season and will be on hand if needed for the big game.
Most importantly, the team has had lots of fun through the season and whatever the outcome of Saturday’s game are proud to have made it into the Grand Final. The team is very appreciative of all the work that goes into making the hockey comp work, and extends a big thank you to all umpires, volunteers and members of the Executive who put in the hours to make it all happen.
Elders
One of the older teams in B Grade this year & with only a few changes from last years team, they have been able to greatly improve on last years efforts & bring home the Minor Premiership. They will be the favourites going in to the Grand Final & will use their strength in the back, experience in the halves & fast paced goal scorers up front to try & get the win. It has been an absolute pleasure coaching this team for a second year running, their positivity & team moral has been great. I want to congratulate them on a great year & wish them the best of luck on Saturday! Go Elders!
Candelo
Candelo B team bursting with lots of skill, speed, strength and now determination are ready to take on the challenge of playing against the Elders team in the grand final on Saturday. Team consists of Jessica Smith, Ebony Henry, Zoe Matthews, Georgia Alcock, Mitchell Thoms, Sam Hutkins, Jordan Aireys, Jamie O'Brien, Carla Alcock, Ella Burke, Erin Alcock, Zac Wels and Madison Wilton.
Elders
The Elders team comprises of a fairly young team with several first time players. Elders will be hoping to follow through with another victory after a six game winning streak leading up to the grand final match. The pressure will be on for our newest member of the team and goalie Oscar Heffernan who has proved to be invaluable, stopping numerous goals to get the wins. With a quality defensive line up of ever reliable Clayton Troy, Abbey Christison and Mini Gauniqui. Clayton and Abbey have formed a tough defensive line together. Clayton always solid in his tackles and clearance of the balls and Abbey always safe and dependable. Mini always valuable as he is a versatile player used to play both defence and attack with some outstanding goals scored during the year. That defence being consolidated in the halves lead by Mia Christison and Isobel Dibley. Mia always able to run down any attacker from the other team from anywhere on the field and Isobel always very safe and reliable with awesome skills and never gives up. Young gun Sienna IRVING also in the halves will take over from her injured sister’s role with big shoes to fill. A big loss to the team is Lexi Irving carrying the injury of a broken leg just prior to the finals, unfortunate for Elders as she was coming into awesome form.
The forwards are also hoping to combine well in their attack with leading goal scorer Alexis Carpenter at the fore-front and Alex Marks and Brooke Smith as the inners. Alex and Brook in great form using their great ball skills to bring the ball forward and linking with both halves and forwards. The remaining forwards Alana Liaropoulos, Sienna Scott and Emerson Armstrong all combining well together to form an unbreakable line. Outstanding performance to get this far and have shown enormous improvement over the season. Well done and good luck Elders.
Grand Hotel
After finishing minor premiers Grand Hotel Stars took the hard road to the grand final with both finals going into extra time. Grand Stars and Elders have had close games for the entire season and this one should be no different, but with no subs Grand will have to really dig deep.
A great defensive team led by their dependable and highly skilled goalie Alyssa Lockerbie. Clearance king Kobe Morgan and solid tackler Mark Winters stand strong in the backs helped by the consistent half line of Demi Rose with a great eye for the ball, Angus Carpenter with exceptional ball skills, and Jasmine Constance directing the play and giving her all. Hoping to combine well with the running speed of EJ Norris, the great positional play of Laila Lee, the experienced Jess Smith and the determination and ability of Abby Waterson and Amelia Byrnes. With junior player Grace Lee floating to support the team when needed.
D grade
This is our second year running the junior D Grade competition and what a year it's been.
Our comp consist of 4 strong little teams under the age of 9 years old. At the start of the season some of our little guys didn't even know how to hold a stick, so it's a great pleasure to watch them all improve with their skills each and every week.
Most of these guys will stay in D Grade next year with only a few stepping up to the higher C Grade. The D Graders are very excited to be playing an expedition match on grand final day at 10.50am. I would like to thank all the parents for their help each week, especially our coaches Bron McMahon, Michelle Bartlett, Robert Lucas & Wendy Hetherington.