Editor: Tom Wallace

twallace19@gmail.com

Photos: Chris Bartle

Issue Ten September 2011

Hi All,

It's incredible to think that the hockey season will soon be over - for some of us we no longer

have a game to play and we now have our weekends free. However with so many of our teams

making finals there is still plenty of hockey to watch and support. As a club we have a total of 26

teams competing in seniors, veterans and juniors and I am proud to say that 11 of our teams

have made the finals. In our men's we have a total of 4 (out of 7) playing in finals, our women

have 2 teams (out of 3) in finals, our women vets have 1 team (out of 3) and our juniors have 3

teams (out of 13) in finals. Also one of our youngest hockey teams is almost certain to finish top

of their league and win the flag as they don't play finals.

For a club of our size this is a fantastic achievement and one we should all be proud of. Whilst

playing finals is something we all aim for I am proud of all our club members for the high

standard of hockey played though out the year, the excellent behaviour of our players and

spectators and the great support we have received from so many people. Our club runs on the

efforts of volunteers and I wish to extend my thanks and appreciation for all our coaches,

managers, umpires, taxi drivers, medical experts, parents, spectators, bookkeepers, bbq chefs

and committee members. Thanks all for your time and effort - it is truly appreciated by myself

and everyone involved in the club.

I wish all our teams playing in finals the very best of luck. Play great hockey, play with the right

spirit and most importantly enjoy your time on the field.

Finally, I hope to see as many of you as possible at both the final games and our wind ups for

both senior and junior teams. Also, keep an eye out for invitations to our summer hockey

competitions (both senior and junior) and our hockey clinics (run by our Australian hockey

players). Details will be available in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for a great season and I hope to see you all next year.

Regards,

Tim Bowler

President

Recent Results

Women’s Willow Bridge League

Round 16 Joondalup Lakers 0 – Suburban 4 20th August at Arena

Well I feel confident when I say that anyone would be hard pressed to find one of our team members who would like to talk about this game again. It was a very hot early afternoon game, at our home ground, and because of the results of games over the past week, we knew how important this game was to keep us in the Willow bridge league. Everyone wanted a win and we had a very good chance at getting one. We were down a few of our regular team members but we had a full side none the less, with some subs as well. We welcomed back an old team member Shan, and Charlotte from the two’s kindly stepped up to help us.

We started off as we normally do, nice and strong. It was so warm you could defiantly tell that this was going to be an

energy sapping game, it wasn’t the fastest game we had played this season, and I put this down to the heat, don’t get me

wrong we had pace when we needed it but the general pace of the game was slower. We were having a pretty good first

half, if anything we were dominating, passing was good, and we were using plenty of space throughout the turf, linking up

doing some great hockey, treating the suburban players as ‘witches hats’ to quote an enthusiastic spectator. We also got

some short corners against them, and I think some of them would have felt too close for comfort for Subs, unfortunately

no goals. As always our defence seemed impenetrable, with fantastic saves, and clearing of the ball, there’s always great

hockey to watch unfold before you around our defence, everyone steps up. Toyah Tinworth had a brilliant game, she had

been away for a week’s worth of hockey but you couldn’t tell, along with the hard work from our backs, she was a driving

force up the field, and with this we were able to put a lot of pressure on Subs when we got around their D.

Coming off at half time, we were all feeling pretty good. We had played good hockey and were feeling confident that we

could get back on and go and score some goals. It was mentioned that we were playing quite a defensive game, because

that’s what we are used to having to do, so we needed to pick up the attack more. When the second half began we could

tell that Subs had also stepped it up, and they seemed to get down to our D more often than in the first half. We were still

playing good hockey but cracks were beginning to show. Subs got the first of many short corners, and things began to feel

familiar again, we were back on the defensive, as opposed to how we were attacking in the first half. We weren’t going to

give up this easily, we still attacked and advanced on their D throughout the duration of the game, but it wasn’t going quite

as planned as now Subs were getting to close for comfort to our goal.

We were nearing the end of the game, and you could feel it, it had been a long hot game with no score yet, and maybe this

is where we went wrong, maybe we eased off a bit sensing that the end was near, whatever happened it all fell apart.

There was 11 minutes left of the game to go (coach told us at the end that this is where we fell apart) and Subs got their

first goal in, and then their second. Two goals was ok, and we knew the urgency of needed to reply with a goal soon, so we

picked up the pace, and Sandy Byfield our captain was encouraging us all the way to keep attacking and to not slow down,

desperate to get just one goal in, but then Subs got their 3rd goal in, and this hurt it was devastating, and finally a 4th goal

slipped through…unbearable. We were glad to hear the final whistle blow but for all the wrong reasons. This game should

have been an achievement for us but the score no longer reflected how well we had done in the first half, all it took was

those last 10mins and everything changed. This loss seemed like one of the harder ones to take especially after all our hard

work, the season is starting to feel like it’s taken its toll on us.

Ladies we played some great hockey this game and should focus on this, as I said the score of this game does not reflect

how well we played and how hard we worked, as a team we are fantastic and we will get there yet, bring on lions.

- Deborah Edmonds

Recent Results

Women’s Willow Bridge League Cont.

Round 17 Joondalup Lakers 1 – Riverside Lions 4 27th August at Arena

Our last home game, and second to last game of the season We all remembered the last game against Riverside Lions, tough and they were quiet aggressive, but at least this time we knew what we were in for and we weren’t going to let them get the better of us.

It was a hot day again and again the pace seemed a little bit slower. It was clear from the start that it was going to be a tough battle again, but we were doing so much better than the first time we had played them. We were making plenty of advances into their D and putting pressure on their defence, as they were to ours. We also got some short corners just to add a bit more pressure to them, unfortunately we were not successful.

Lions were true to their form and when they got near the D they were deadly, with one of their star players always trying to get around on her reverse side and get a shot away, which she was very good at doing, and when she did the shots went away fast.

As always our back line put up a great defence and made some amazing saves. Throughout the season not many goals were scored against us from short corners, we were pretty good at keeping them out. But Lions were also rather good at getting them in. They managed to get 4 goals in that game, which was actually a good improvement for us as we hadn’t let them beat us by as much as they did in the first round, and what was even better this game was that, Toyah Tinworth scored an outstanding goal.

We were making another advanced on Lions D and Challen passed a ball across the top of the circle to the left, it was mis-trapped by Deb, Toyah was running up behind, picked up the ball, got to the top and did not hesitate to fire the ball straight into the goal making herself air born as she did. It was a beautiful goal to see. And Toyah celebrated as only she can, jumping up and down with a huge and well-deserved grin on her face!

So over all it wasn’t a bad game for us, we actually got into the Lions half, as Doc had mentioned to us after the game the first time we versed them we didn’t really get into their half, we played mostly defensive, so to walk away with Lions not getting as many goals in and us with a goal, was a great achievement. It was also a fantastic feeling that we didn’t give up the attack and drive right until the end, after Toyah got her goal we picked things up and got hungry to get more, as a team we worked brilliantly and it was great to see.

Round 18 Rockingham 6 – Joondalup Lakers 0 3rd September at Lark Hill

Our final game of the season and we had to travel to Rockingham for it, which was a bit daunting for us, as last time we travelled for a game something didn’t click and we did not play well at all. So we were feeling a little anxious, but generally spirits were high, it was the last game of the season for us and a bit of a club outing as there were some of the boys teams down to play as well.

A bit of nasty day weather wise, cold and wet, but that never stopped us before. Last time we played Rockingham we walked away from the game with a nil all outcome, we were hoping to improve on this. We started out pretty good, Rockingham had an upper hand at this stage, getting a few short corners away early, and also getting a few goals away early. This was a bit of a shock to us as we weren’t playing horrible hockey. Compared to the last time we travelled for a game we were playing amazingly. But some things were not clicking for us, a few of the basics which was a bit disappointing, our passing and trapping was off, and this was letting us down, as we were making good leads with the space, and driving the ball well. But we just couldn’t get a good flow going, this was irritating because as I said we had played worse games and this didn’t feel like it should be as bad as the score was reflecting.

Throughout the first half there was a lot of injuries to mention a few, Sarah Perotti injured her troublesome thumb again (but she did solder on in the second half) Celeste fitzgerald got a good whack and seemed a bit dazed for a while but she too soldered on as we had only one sub, and a few times even our goalie Sophie Egan dropped to the ground, after some brutal hits, but everyone soldered on. The injuries were not one sided either a Rockingham girl went off with a bloody nose. At half time I do believe the score was at 4-0.

Recent Results

Women’s Willow Bridge League Cont.

Coming off for the half time talk it was clear that we needed to step up on some areas, and Doc made this very clear to us, there was a bit more urgency now, this was the last game of our season and we didn’t want to go out this way.

Heading on for second half and we did step things up, the pace picked up and we started to do the basics better, getting a lot more breakaways into their half and up to their D we managed to get a few more short corners in there. Some of which were very close, but unfortunately not close enough to alter to score board. Rockingham managed to sink 2 more goals past us. This wasn’t too bad for the second half. Breaking it down like that you can tell we stepped things up and were making Rockingham work a lot harder for their win.

It was again fantastic to see and be a part of the fact that as a team we just don’t give up. The score had reached 6-0 and we still fought hard, the pace didn’t drop, if anything we picked it up more, we kept our heads up right until the end and kept driving for just one goal, we had some more close breaks and shots on goal, but we just couldn’t get any in that goal.

So it wasn’t the best end to the season for us, quiet a bad loss. But I would like to say that as a team who wasn’t meant to be in the Willow bridge grade this year we did exceptionally well. We stepped up to the grade as a whole, and each person individually grew as well. We always had great team spirit throughout the season, and encouraged one another the whole way. We even managed to have a bit of fun in there as well, and with how much defeat we faced we came out the other side smiling. I think we should all be proud, and if we get to play in this grade again next year, all I can say is they better not underestimate us and watch out, we will be a force to be reckoned with.

On a personal note, I would like to thank every single member of our team and club I had the privilege to play with this season. This has been one of my best and most fun seasons (which couldn’t have been done with you ALL), meeting some fantastic people, and making great friends. I am sadden to say that I won’t be here to play next season, I know there will be another great one ahead for you all so good luck and I will be watching and I will be back. Thank you again and well done ladies (and Doc) you should all be proud of what we achieved.

- Deborah Edmonds

Mens Willow Bridge Cup

Round 17

Joondalup Lakers 3 – SW Strikers 2

27th August 2011 at Arena

This was an important game for Lakers; we were 3rd on the ladder and strikers 4th so this could be a big mental win before

finals and also a good way of securing our 3rd spot in one match. The game started well for us with the first half a show of

great energy from both sides. Lakers seemed to have more of the ball and some great controlled passing from Matt Collier

(new recruit from the mines) and great leading from our centre forward Tom Wallace, led to continual forward pressure

and presence. Our first goal came from our first short corner and a rebound allowed me (Rabbit) to put one in off the

defenders chest. A second goal came soon after with Tom Wallace being rewarded for his continual running and leading,

along with good passes from Andre Gabriel, Dusty Tame and Jamie Carroll. Matt Collier was still trying to get more touches

to catch up after his first game back for 1s.

Continued next page…

The girls defending a short corner

Recent Results

Mens Willow Bridge Cup Cont.

Second half we knew they would come back at us. We remained strong however and put a third on the board through Joel

Sargent, and his trademark scoop sweep into goal. Strikers however (after being revved up by a shouting and jumping

strikers coach at half time reportedly) rebounded and managed a few short corners (with a couple unlucky calls). On one of

them they scored a set shot low in the corner. Next they pushed up and pressed on our defence, we probably did try

playing the rest of the game at too high a pace and it led to a few too many turnovers and another goal to strikers. The

game finished and contrary to Tom Wallace's belief after the match we won 3-2. Tom still thinks it's a draw; Matt is still

talking about his match on FB to anyone who will listen (Reece). Next week we play Rockingham down on their pitch,

better take earmuffs so I don't hear the poms whinging :p

- Rabbit :)

Round 18

Rockingham 2 – Joondalup Lakers 1

3rd September at Lark Hill

Rockingham, the top-of-the-table side and our last game of the regular season. It was a perfect opportunity for both sides

to get hold of some last minute form for the finals ahead. After a good warm up routine and talking to by Sax, the boys

were ready for a battle against the season benchmarks.

The first half started with an upbeat tempo with both teams sharing

possession but to no avail, our communication and marking was solid

during the early stages of the first half and we managed to generate a

few attacks of our own. Rockingham showed promise of scoring a goal

and almost did but a sensational save on the line by Trent Schurmann

kept the game level. The first half ended a very tight contest with

Rockingham probably dominating possession and territory but the half

time score was 0-0.

In the half time talk the message was clear, play our own game and pace and break them down through tough defence and

hard working team attacks. As the second half began both teams upped the tempo and showed they deserved their spots

in the upcoming finals series. After about 15 minutes of jostling it was Rockingham who managed to break the deadlock

with a soft goal that the keeper, Dan Mander, felt ripped off by. To his credit he picked his chin up and continued to play

the way he has all season. We fought hard with various attacking moves up our right but they managed to "cut us down

around about the 20" every time. Rockingham jumped on another opportunity from broken play and a controversial

shepherd to score their second goal. Feeling a bit down from 2 goals against the run of play, we decided to fight for a result

and did through a penalty corner goal from Andre Gabriel. With 5 minutes to play we pressed hard and pushed all our

resources forward to equalise and in the end couldn't find the net and the game ended 2-1.

Having lost the game we took a lot of positives from the game including the fact we played at a high level for a good

proportion of the game and felt like we had improved from the way we have played in some earlier rounds. With the finals

series coming up we are all relishing the challenge to show this league our true potential!

- JC

Trent’s goal line save

Recent Results Recent Results

Women’s Provisional 4

Round 16

Joondalup Lakers 2 – Newman Knights 0

21st August 2011 at Arena

I asked Aoife to write this match report, but she's only good with numbers and not words, so this is all she had to say: “Lakers proved yet again that, no, REALLY, we are actually better.”

I'd have to agree, and what a sweet victory it was. We had to win this game to have any chance of staying in the top 4 and we blew Newman out of the water. Marking was brilliant. Passing was spot on. Tackles were strong. Talking was constant. Attack was consistent. Defence was solid.

There is not much more I can say about it, other than when we play well, we play really, really well. Perhaps lady luck was on our side but it really felt like everything fell into place and all of our hard work as a team had paid off. It was a make or break game, and thankfully, we came out on top.

Round 17 WASPs 4 – Joondalup Lakers 0 28th August at Melville

WASPs stung us pretty hard in this game, and it really hurt. This was our biggest loss of the season and it would be an understatement to say that something just did not 'click' during the game. It was not a good scoreline, and it was not ideal to give the opposition such a convincing win this close to finals.

We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we did make it easy for WASPs – conceding a scrappy goal in the first 5 minutes of the game, and then three more lacklustre goals as the game progressed.

A positive that can be taken from the game is that possession was 50/50 throughout the match. WASPs did not dominate the game, nor did they play spectacularly. Maybe we were on too much of a high from our win against Newman and needed this loss to ground us before finals. Nevertheless, our chance to play finals rests solely upon our performance in Round 18.

Round 18 Joondalup Lakers 6 – Canning 0 3rd September at Arena

After a very, very slow start we managed to pull a 6-0 win, securing a top four finish and a spot in the finals! Maybe we got off to a slow start because Doc had to nip off during the first half...but excuses aside, the general feeling at half time was that a 3 nil lead was disappointing given how much possession we'd had.

We got back onto the field determined to score more goals. Canning were not very strong, which actually made scoring difficult because they tended to flood the D. We scored 3 more goals before the final whistle, to secure our place in the top 4. It was a cruisy win – but a win is a win! Well done to Charlotte Thompson who scored an impressive 4 goals, and to Kayla Luk and Tam Watts who each scored 1 goal.

After finishing bottom of the ladder last season, a top four finish is fantastic. It is a credit to the players, Doc, and to those who come down and support us week after week. Thanks to the 2s girls for having a great attitude and for being so positive and team-oriented throughout the season. Special thanks must also go to the parents of some of our Under 17s players who have brought their daughters to every game – even when they were at faraway places such as Rockingham!

Continued Next Page...

Recent Results

Recent Results

Women’s Provisional 4 Cont.

Just getting into the finals is a great achievement for senior women's hockey at the club. It is the first time (from memory, but I'm sure someone will be quick to correct me if I'm wrong!) in almost 7 years that a senior women's team at the club (not including vets) has made finals. The Metro women's team must also be commended for making finals also!

For the 2s, finals is a step in the right direction. The majority of the 2s players are very young and hopefully we can continue to grow stronger in the grade that we are in so that we can achieve promotion next season, or the season after next.

Now - here comes the cry to the many committed and passionate club supporters out there - we hope to see you at UWA next weekend supporting the club, and the 2s in their finals effort. It will be much appreciated!

BRING ON FINALS!!!! :) :) :)

- Michelle Pontre

Men’s Promotion 2

Round 17

Joondalup Lakers 0 – Riverside Lions 1

27th August 2011 at Arena

They came, we played, we lost. We will belt the ... out of them in the GF

Nothing more needs to be said.

- Byf

Round 18 Rockingham 1 – Joondalup Lakers 2 5th September 2011 at Lark Hill

Travelling to Rockingham with a playoff place already booked, the team used the outing to try new combinations and give those in the play off's some game time in preparation for the coming weeks.

The first half saw the ball moved around the park, with some good goal scoring opportunities presenting themselves. Over this, we had a few short corners which weren't converted. The team ran hard and used the space created well.

The second half saw the forwards playing back and the back playing forward....not only this confused Rocky's, but a comment was made "your forwards never ran like this in the first half." Nice work backs......showing the younger blokes how to move the defence!!

Overall the final score was a 2- 1 win and 3 points. The priorities of the coming weeks are score goals and finish our opportunities in the circle, we do this, and we will win the coming games.

Goals were scored by George and Mike Byfield from a short corner.

- Jason Eichstadt

Summaries

Hi All,

We’ve reached the end of another hockey season. Finals have begun and we have six senior teams

in contention to win their respective grades. Good luck to all those competing in the Finals over the

coming weeks and we hope, by the windup, to have some new flags to hang at the BSA.

In this issue are some great match reports from across the top two grades in both our men and

women’s teams, a recap of the season from some juniors and the all important finals fixtures.

Don’t forget to grab your tickets for the Club Windup on the 24th of September at training sessions

and the BSA. More information is available later on in this issue.

Personally I’d like to thank everyone that’s helped out with getting the bulletin up and running this

year. It was a new venture and hopefully you have all enjoyed the read. A special thanks to Deb

Edmonds, Michelle Pontre, Byf, Jason Eichstadt and all the 1s boys for writing up their respective

match reports. Made for some good reads. Everyone who took photos and allowed me to use them

for the bulletin, it helped add colour and gave JB something to look at. Also the Heidi and Lindsay

for their updates on the club’s junior programs and teams. They are the future of this club and it’s

good to know they’re in good hands.

So once again, thanks to all involved, good luck in finals, have an awesome summer break and see

you all next year!

- Tom Wallace

Summaries

The Bridesmaids What to say, we had a great year, a mixture of youth & older gentleman which allowed us to go through the year losing only two games. Made finals again for three years in a row in promotion 2. Looking forward to healthy campaign and hopefully the flag… I as a coach have had great delight in watching some of the junior players grow into real senior players, we have had about 15 to 18 guys to play in the 2’s at any one week so selection as much as it was a joy to have so many available players it was also a nightmare have to choose and tell some people their off the bench or playing 3’s. We seemed to have succeeded in moving up a grade into premier division finishing second by less than one game to the pommy imported Lions (no dislike there), and we scored the highest number of goals in the entire grade. Thanks to the guys in the two’s who really made coaching easy, (they listened), I enjoyed it.

Cheers Byf

JOONDALUP LAKERS WINDUP

Friday 23rd Sept, 7pm– 12pm

BSA, 6 Miami Beach Parade, Iluka

Cost : $55 (Includes Japanese style 3 course meal and band.)

Dress - Cocktail

Theme - Wear Red, Black and/or White.

Purchase ticket before Monday the 19th September using either –

Credit card, via website www.lakers.asn.au go to Registrations/payments. You will need your username and password to log in and choose event Wind up. Print your receipt and bring on the night.

EFT, BSB – 306-051 Account No. 4164190 Print your receipt and bring on the night.

Cash, Sandy Byfield, Melissa Harkness, Michael Byfield, Michelle Pontre or Sharen Mitchell.

The Club Trading Page is open to all local businesses. This is a great way to get your business known

within the local community. This Bulletin goes out to over 200 people as well as their families so please

contact our club secretary, Ian Colan at ian_colan@hotmail.com, for further details/inquiries.

Trading Page

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