On 21 and 22 August a squad of 13 boys went to Newcastle to compete in the NSWCCC Hockey championships.
Game 1: St Edward’s College vs Red Bend Catholic College Forbes
The first game started off at a fast pace with Red Bend College having the majority of ball control. Jacob Curcio showed great intensity early on in the game and Seth Short, goalkeeper made some great saves from close range. After a couple of unlucky goals from Red Bend College, Ethan Short combined well with Jacques Engelbrecht to get the ball into Red Bend’s defence. Some loose marking and ball watching allowed the other team to score again.
In the second half, Red Bend College continued to show dominance and put our boys under pressure in our defensive circle. Ethan Short showed some great speed counter-attacking their plays but unfortunately could not get the ball away. After some tough short corners, Red Bend College came away with the win
Final score: 0 – 9
Game 2: St Edward’s College vs McCarthy College Tamworth
Our Eddies boys didn’t drop their heads going into our second game against a well-structured McCarthy College side. Kyle Donaldson’s mid-air touch wasn’t enough to prevent a short corner drag flick from hitting the back of the net and an unlucky squeeze ball made it through goalkeeper Seth’s pads.
The second half didn’t start out much different from the first but the team combination worked well through the middle for a near miss shot on goal. The decision to move Jake Mussared to defence was beneficial to the team and prevented many goals.
Final score: 0 – 7
Game 3: St Edward’s College vs St Joseph’s College Aberdeen
St Edward’s College started strong with a shot on goal that just went wide. This confidence booster lead to a close shot from Ethan Short and a set up from Callum Richardson to offload to Jacques Engelbrecht to score. A great ball from Kyle Donaldson in the midfield to Jacob Curcio, to set Callum Richardson up with a goal. After some shots saved by their keeper St Edward’s managed to score one goal before the second half.
Eddies went back on for the second half scoring quickly off a knock in short corner. Jacques Engelbrecht ran a great ball down the left side but was unfortunately stopped by the opposition’s goalkeeper. After they scored off a mistake in our midfield Jacques again scored a goal. That wasn’t it for St Edward’s, after attacking their goal and being denied multiple times, Kyle Donaldson scored off a long range flick into the top right of the net. Jacob Curcio and Ikey Allen took multiple shots at the goals but were denied by their keeper and a runaway play was quickly stopped by an excellent tackle from Tex Robinson. Kyle Donaldson finished off the day with a solo run and drag around the keeper to score.
Final score: 7 – 1
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Game 4: St Edward’s College vs Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn
Our fourth game was against Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn. Goulburn started the game off with the ball and quickly got it into St Edward’s half for a quick shot at goal which was saved by Seth Short. Tom Kelly hit the ball to Ethan Short who ran the ball and passed to the top of the circle but was sadly intercepted. Goulburn took the ball but was stopped by Seth Short who had three consecutive goal saves. For the next few minutes St Edward’s held off Goulburn desperately with a shot saved by Kyle Donaldson, however Goulburn flicked the ball top left to score. Once the play reset, St Edward’s had the ball intercepted from a pass but Joshua Mercer came from behind with a great steal. Goulburn recovered quickly from this and hit the ball down to attack and score a soft deflection into the goal.
In the second half St Edward’s turned up the pressure with Kyle Donaldson working in both the offensive and defensive halves. Once we received the ball Kyle Donaldson moved the ball around the field and up into attack with a pass to Callum Richardson. After he was tackled, Goulburn hit the ball down the field into our half. Kyle Donaldson made an excellent run from the attacking end back to defence where he made a vital tackle. This was closely followed by a strong run out of defence where he was able to deliver a pass down the side line which resulted in Goulburn hitting the ball over our base line. Tom Kelly made a break away and ran the ball through three players. St Edward’s successfully held on for an extended period of time with desperate scrambling in defence by Alex Morris and Jagger Allen.
Final score: 0 – 2
Game 5: St Edward’s College V Mount St Patrick College Murwillumbah
The final game of the carnival was against Mount Saint Patrick College, Murwillumbah. They started off the first half with the ball, performing a strong play getting the ball into St Edward’s half for a shot at goal which resulted in a short corner. Thanks to Ethan Short running out and intercepting the ball they were denied a goal. After a few minutes St Edward’s got the ball into their circle and landed themselves a short corner. Sadly, St Patrick’s goalie saved a shot which resulted in the team passing the ball high to their attacking half and their first goal.
At the start of the second half St Edward’s had the ball and moved it around the back until they saw an opening up the line. The ball was then intercepted and the opposition were able to get the ball into our circle and score. St Edward’s then played the game with short passes and moved up the field to score themselves a short corner. A quick ball to the top of the circle and back to near post resulted in Kyle Donaldson scoring a deflection into the bottom corner.
Final score: 1 – 3
A special thanks to Mr Thomas Ristuccia who was our bus driver and photographer for the tournament as well as all the family and friends who came to support us. Thank you to the boys in our team who stood up and umpired; Ikey Allen, Jagger Allen and Jacob Curcio. Thank you to our coach Mr Mark Austin for his expertise in the game.
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