Football Report

As we see the Hamilton Kangaroos Junior Football Association come to an end, it has been a very positive year for the College Magpies. Both the Under 13s and the Under 16s have made it through to the Grand Final, both sides finishing top two earning the right of a second chance.

The Under 13s went down in the second semi final to St Mary’s Monivae by 62 points. Better players were the ever-reliable Jack Austin, Isaac Mayfield and Max Hausler. The loss sent them into a preliminary final going up against St Andrew’s at Coleraine. The team played extremely well all game and got up by 33 points with Jack Austin, Izack Mayfield, Christian te Boekhorst, Oscar Hausler and Lachie Rees all named in the better players and the side will now do battle against St Mary’s Monivae.

The Under 16s finished undefeated earning the right to be named minor premiers and we saw the boys go straight through into the Grand Final after defeating the arch rival St Andrew’s by three goals. Zac Cunningham booted through three goals and Hamish Cameron got two to his name. Better players were Nick Gunn, Jack Sharp and big Tommy Hirst.

Starting times this coming Friday night at Melville Oval will be 6pm for U13s & 7.40pm for U16s. It would be great to see many supporters there on the night!

For the Hamilton Kangaroos Under 16 side we have Riley Alexander playing well for the team that has reached the Grand Final and will play this Sunday against North Warrnambool for the right to be named Hampden League premiers. Lachlan Holcombe and Nick Vallance are having good seasons and will play finals for the Under 18 team in the coming weeks and we wish all these boys all the best.

Earlier in the term, we took a bunch of keen senior girls to play in the round robin format of school footy. Taking on our main threat Monivae first we saw College defeat them by 13 points with Emily Michelmore kicking two and Erin Powell kicking the other goal. Game 2 was against Heywood and it was another victory to College, taking the win by 8 points with Sophie Hines and Kate Jessop kicking the goals. Game 3 was against Baimbridge and another strong team performance saw us take out the win 13 to 0, which saw Kate Jessop, Erin Powell and Tayla Kennedy named in the better players. Game 4 saw College take home the win once again defeating Good Shepherd 51- 0. Mitzi Adamson was the only one to kick multiple goals and we had 6 other individual goal scorers. Our final game was against Casterton and once again the girls proved too strong with the defence holding up well keeping them scoreless while our forward line remained potent and we won 22-0. Georgia Hodgetts, Hannah Nichols and Lily McCure were the three goal scorers. This all meant College took home the shield going undefeated for the day. Claudia Roberts was named best for the team throughout the day and was awarded the medal.

Seth Fiegert (Football Captain)

Hockey Draw - Round 15

Division 1 Women - 24/8

College Strikers v Coleraine Red – 6.00pm @ Pedrina Park

Division 2 Men – 25/8

College Blue v College Gold – 10.30am @ Pedrina Park

Division 4 – 25/8

College Bandicoots v College Tassie Devils – 12noon @ College

College Drop Bears v Demons – 1.20pm @ College

College Numbats v Dunkeld – 2.30pm @ Pedrina Park

Division 2 Women – 26/8

College Scorchers v College Blades – 12noon @ Pedrina Park

Division 1 Women - 26/8

College Thundersticks v Monivae – 3.00pm @ Pedrina Park

Division 1 Men – 26/8

College v Demons – 4.30pm @ Pedrina Park

Girls' Hockey

A Grade

College Thundersticks vs College Strikers.

The two A grade sides met last Wednesday night for their second battle of the season. The result was quite similar to their first encounter with the Strikers too strong defeating the Thundersticks 4-2. The Thundersticks were on the board in the first minute with a wonderful running goal from Gracie Austin. Strikers took control soon after the first goal to score from a Hannah Russell short corner. The Strikers kept the ball in attack for the majority of the match managing to score three more times off short corner set ups. Hannah Nichols scored right on the final whistle to put a second one on the board for the Thundersticks. The two A Grade sides will finish first and second after the home and away season, a great effort indeed!

Better Players: Hannah and Chloe Russell, Maddie Mutch, Hannah Nichols, Lily McCure, Lucy Roberts.

B Grade

Despite the absence of their coach and no subs, the College Scorchers recorded a wonderful 2-0 victory over top of the table Demons. The Blades moved the ball with great fluently and they were rock solid in defense. Emily Ash, Chantelle Butcher and Lucy Roberts combined perfectly on the backline. With the speed of Gracie Austin and the experience of Sarah Roberts the forward line were always looking dangerous. Emily Crawford and Chloe Lyons have also stepped up to be important links in this side. The Scorchers should finish second and secure a double chance in the finals.

The Blades played their best hockey of the season defeating Monivae 7-1. The inclusion of Isabelle Musson and Olivia Allen boosted the confidence of this young side. Isabelle was clearly best on ground scoring four goals. Katie and Bridget Delany worked very well together on the wing, Jordy Brown and Ashleigh McNaughton have now established themselves as very able defenders. Well done to Millie Davidson scoring her first goal by being in perfect position on the post. This win should give the young Blades great confidence leading into the finals.

Kristen Waldron

Boys' Hockey

The Open team commenced proceedings for College hockey last weekend with a Friday night game against Monivae. Our opening was positive and we combined well. Despite an early goal conceded against the run of play, we took a 2-1 lead into half-time, James Sutherland and Sami Zehir each scoring from good work close-in on the goalie’s pads. The second half was somewhat pedestrian – we controlled most of the play but could not find the final pass to set up a clear forward chance. The final score was unchanged from half-time – so we will settle for the points!

At Divison 2 level on Saturday morning, both teams recorded fine victories. College Blue scored ten in defeating Demons but our opponents created several threatening forward moves, particularly in the first half. As usual, Blue combined well and it was good to note the evidence of clear on-field “talk.” This team is playing some fine hockey and deservedly sits on the top of the ladder.

College Gold scored an 8-3 victory over Monivae. Until just before half-time, this was a tight encounter but Gold scored several goals either side of the break to establish a strong position. Twice in the second half, the boys conceded a goal by failing to cover attacking players in the circle and they will need to watch this as finals approach: it is easy when you are on top in a game to increasingly push forward and forget that good attacks are built on solid defence.

As finals approach – they are just over a week away now – all three teams are in strong positions. We will hope for performances in the weeks ahead which warrant those positions.

Neil MacLean

Dates to Remember