This week the Pencil Pusher had a few family commitments that meant they could not spend the weekend at the turf. But manager reports have enabled us to put something together.
Friday 26 June 2020
On Friday night we saw Waiau Pa Ivory play Puke United. Puke United had a boy down the back with a big hit on him who belted it up the field and the rest of his team picked up rebounds. Not a way of developing skills but an effective strategy. I saw two girls that Pa should keep an eye on for the future here. Naesha showed some good skills and a sweet strike. She scored a goal from a long way out with a nice shot finding the corner. At the back was a tall blonde girl, Bella. She shut down a lot of the Puke United raids and ran nice defensive lines. The Pa team finished the stronger of the two teams, but early goals conceded meant the final score was a loss 7-4 to Pukekohe United.
On the opposite field playing at the same time was Waiau Black vs Kohekohe. Kohe won this game 3-0 but the quick glances I had it looked as though the Pa keeper made some great saves.
Prior to this game the Waiau Pa White team played a well drilled Puke United team. The final score was 0-4 but the Pa team fought to the end and never gave up. Wins will come for this team if they just hang tough.
Next up was the youth teams with their fast 5’s. With the size of the fields these kids look like giants playing in a kindergarten sandpit. There is no space. We are going to come of the fence swinging here. Last year in pitching the Fast 5’s game, CMHA advised it would provide a better quality experience on a half field pitch. President Grant Lichfield advised that a key reason was that playing full field with adults is dangerous. The talk around the turf at present is that condensing the space on the turf results in this being more dangerous than playing on the full field. CMHA would also appear to be prioritising U13 full field games by placing some of the higher ranked referees on to full field games. This has resulted in a hack and bash game and any skill has been eliminated. The talk is that CMHA does not have enough boards to increase the field size to the half field size that was pitched in 2019 at the clubs. If this is the reason for the small fields then can we suggest that the youth grade returns to full field as this Fast 5’s is not developing skills. Let us think about it CMHA, if you increase the size of the field the players will get more time to control the ball, make good passes or run with it. All the stats that CMHA presented in 2019 said it gave more touches on the ball per player. Those touches are useless if you just get hacked and bashed straight away – spread the player out and make it more quality touches. Quality is the key word here. The only winner from this is secondary school hockey who still play full field as players will just stop playing club hockey. Given statistics that show the drop off from secondary school hockey (or any sport) around year 13, it would stand to reason that clubs play an important part in keeping player numbers up and ultimately people active.
With the games the Stingrays played Puke United. This game was closer than the final score of 9-2 the Pa team would suggest. Pa Keeper Dylan had a good game and made some amazing saves early in the game and the Pa team took confidence from this, attacked with more confidence. Some great goals. Goals were spread around, and Neve continues to show the boys that she can score the goals, bagging 2 more in this game. It is also interesting to see players starting to think. With the space being shut down we saw Logan do an auto pass of the wall to himself and then shoot – bloody clever. Stingrays were confident enough to pull the keeper at the end of the game. Best defensive play at the end of the game with Ben and Jacko tackling each other. The talk after this game was that Puke United were nice to play against and kids had fun chatting to each other which was good to hear. During this game there was an incident involving the opposition and the ref. Coach Dean sums this up beautiful we he said “whilst this incident had nothing to do with our team, it’s still a good reminder for the kids that umpires are volunteers who are giving up their time and the kids should continue to maintain positivity throughout the game regardless of the level of umpiring or actions by the other team. This will help ensure they are having fun rather than being distracted, and if they are enjoying themselves then they will play their best hockey.” This is an ethos that the Waiau Pa Club fully supports and endorses.
The Penguins then took the field against One Puke Marlins. The game started of close and TJ in goal made some one on one saves and a few repeat saves of shots and Pa maintained a lead of 2-1. Elena and Jacob than scored and the score was 4-1 at half time. The second half than saw Pa dominate with a further 12 goals. Ben picked up 5 goals in the game, so I hope that does not send his parents broke. Jacob also got a hattrick and he seems to be fitting in well with his new club and teammates. In this game we saw the new challenge rule apply. Instead of a stroke (penalty shot) there is a shootout one on one with the keeper. Dylan took the challenge for the Pa and slotted it with a nice left right jink at speed. The final score was 16-1 to the Waiau Pa Penguins.
Saturday 27 June 2020
Saturday junior hockey was missed due to other commitments. Remember the pencil pusher can be emailed at media@wphc.co.nz if you have a match day update, a funny story or a key message you wish to see pushed out.
Seniors started with a 12.30pm game between Waiau Pa premier girls and Baba’s. This is the 3rd week in a row they have played. It reminded me of Batman – join us next week, same bat time, same bat channel. However, this week was a bit different. During the week coach Daniel Schofield did toy with defaulting the game with players being crook and not wanting to risk injuries which makes sense with intercity games coming up and taking precedence over playing the same opposition for the third week in a row. However, the Pa cobbled a team missing Grace, Macka, Lana, AJ and with Charlotte getting back to school at the end of the week to convince her parents she was okay to play. Out of necessity we saw the return of the Fourie sisters (Jorien and Johanri), Wendy stepped up in goal and Kath lending her experience at the back. The Pa team gave the Baba’s a bit of a shock and at the end of the first quarter lead 2-1 with both goals being scored by Danielle. Jorien’s first touch was a 1-2 setting up Danielle’s 2nd goal. Welcome back Jorien. The first quarter was also notable for ex Pa player Kadia missing a stroke, we will put it down to Wendy out psyching her. The 2nd quarter saw Johanri make her debut for the premiers. Charlotte made a save off the line from a PC (but we think the whistle had already gone).
The game was then levelled 2-2 when the Baba’s received a debatable PC that they scored from. Pa felt the ball had been raised into a defender, the ref said the player attempted to play the ball so it was not dangerous but was the player playing at a ball with a self defence reflex rather than genuine play at the ball? Probably more annoying for the Pa was that a minute later they broke down the field and popped a ball over the stick that hit the Baba’s player just below the knee and it was blown in Baba’s favour. A bit like rubbing salt into a wound. Quick to follow was a cross from inside the circle from the Baba’s that deflected off Charlotte and wrong footed the keeper. In the final quarter the Pa scored a beautiful team goal after working a back and around and then a nice passing interchange down the right that resulted in Caitlyn tapping the ball home.
The Pa showed more on attack this week and played with better speed. Danielle gave the midfield a real punch, Wendy made some good saves and Abbey put her body on the line in defence.
The men’s premier team took the field at 3.30pm and were just outclassed by the Indians team 14-0. They had to work hard for any ball that they could get and then they just overturned it while still in their defensive area. It is a very young Pa team and they are on a steep learning curve.
At 4pm the skunks took the field against OnePuke. This game was played in good spirit even if it was a bit wet. The Skunks were digging deep on player reserves and call in to their 3rd string Keeper Phil. I am sure the team talk would have been around not letting the opposition shoot as who knows what could have happened with Phil. However, it also provided the chance for the club to see another Father son combination play. In 2019 we saw Moko’s, O’Callaghan’s and Schofield’s achieve it and the Tobeck’s on the women’s side. Personally, I think it is something those families can look back on and share stories at a later date. The kids probably do not appreciate the feat that the older generation has achieved at the time, but they might appreciate it later in life.
The Skunks continued their run of wins with a 5-1 win. Goals to Mike, Simon, Rob and the second youngest in the team Logan who scored his maiden senior hockey goal. The game was notable for having the quietest Skunks captain ever with the youngest player on the team being given the captaincy band. Go Dylan but you may be under pressure next week as you lost the toss.
Sunday 28 June 2020
Sunday saw the Kura Pa team score a good 5-0 win over Alfriston. Goals were shared around to Kath, Hannah, Nicola and Iokopeta getting her first ever goal in hockey (which I find hard to believe). The camaraderie in this team is great to see and was demonstrated afterwards when the girls got together and had a drink and shared a cake wishing Iokopeta all the best for her return to university. Don’t worry there is always a spot for you back at the Pa whenever you return. Best of luck with your studies.
Then the Panda women stepped up against Alfriston. However, before they took the field the Waiau Pa Club was served a protest from the GM of the CMHA and asked not to play a player. The club ignored the request, as never before has there been a protest before the game. When you look at this game Alfriston played a year 9 girl. When the Pa asked for dispensation for year 9 players they received a memo that clearly stated.
Conditions of Dispensation:
Can only play for the clubs lowest ranked Men’s or Women’s Senior Team (as appropriate) (no playing up into a higher team)
Must be registered to play in the fast 5s youth grade
So how does Alfriston play a year 9 player when they have no Fast5’s team registered, and they have a team lower than the reserves grade team this girl was playing in. One does get the feeling that there is one rule for Pa and then no rules for the other clubs. The CMHA constitution states that the CMHA is there to “control, develop, encourage..”
In the end there are no winners in the politics of sport. In this case Waiau Pa is reliant on volunteers to run their organisation and CMHA pays employees. It would appear that CMHA and Waiau Pa are at logger heads and Waiau Pa has nothing to lose here.
Anyway, back to hockey and what we are here for. The Panda’s played with some real heart. 2 goals in the first quarter to Alfriston and then 4-0 down at half time. Coach Dan made a few changes and captain Chelsea had some stern words for her team. The 3rd quarter was 0-0 and the team looked good. In the 2nd half we saw Waiau Pa swing on to attack a lot more and they were really competitive. Amber in the goal was unlucky with the 5th goal as she made a one on one save and then stood on the keepers stick which brought her to the ground and left an open goal. A 6th goal followed quickly after Alfriston picked up a rebound from a PC. Amber made some amazing saves and a lot of the goals were after rebounds and multiple saves. Evie and Rosie worked hard in the midfield along with Brooklyn. Abby had a very sound game both on defence and setting up attack through the left midfield position. It will be tough for these girls coming up against teams with premier players. It is just little things that will make a difference to their game such as having the confidence to hold the ball and not just throw a pass in hope when under pressure. Coach Dan will sort it out. This team is playing at a level higher than would have been expected at the start of the year due to the defections of the players to the Baba’s so this is fast tracking the development of the Pa girls which can only be good in the long run.
Last up was the Magpies. They won 4-1 over OnePuke with their shirts inside out. The club apologises to both the Magpies and the OnePuke teams. The club looked so hard at the draw and realised the Skunks had a uniform clash but then totally overlooked the Magpies with them being on the left-hand side of the draw. The club will try to be more vigilant in future. Also, an apology to Mike Hook at Bayleys, but just think mate, Bayleys was close to the heart when the Magpies had their first win of the season. On paper the team looked to be one of the stronger Reserve men’s teams that the club had put on the field for a while and the combination of youth and wisdom would appear to be competitive. It is also great to see some of the young players in Ethan and Ben getting onto the score sheet. Well done to the team and coach Curt. We look forward to seeing some enterprising hockey through the season from this team.
Finally, a big thank you to those people that have picked up a club umpiring duty. This week we had Waka (Turbo) and Dean and in previous weeks we have had Carter, Rosie, Waka, Charlotte and Phil also do duties. Without umpires we do not have games and we understand that.
Results
U9’s
Waiau Pa Stingrays 3 vs Indian Knightriders 0
Waiau Pa Penguins 3 vs OnePuke Eagles 0
Waiau Pa Orca’s 2 vs OnePuke Hawkes 1
U11’s
Waiau Pa Blackbirds 7 vs Waiau Pa Magpies 3
Waiau Pa Tuis 0 vs Puke United Poseidon 5
Waiau Pa Eagles 3 vs Puke United Athena 2
Waiau Pa Herons 5 vs Alfriston Hawkes 0
U13’s (11 aside)
Waiau Pa White 0 vs Puke United Apollo 4
Waiau Pa Black 0 vs Kohekohe 3
U13’s (5aside)
Waiau Pa Ivory 4 vs Puke United Morpheus 7
Waiau Pa Cream 6 vs Puke United Typhon 1
Youth (5aside)
WP Stingrays 9 vs Puke United 2
WP Penguins 16 vs OnePuke Marlins 1
Seniors
Prem Men (Pirates) 0 vs Indians 14
Prem Women (Panthers) 3 vs Baba’s 4
Reserve Men (Magpies) 4 vs OnePuke 1
Reserve Women (Pandas) 0 vs Alfriston 6
Div 1 Men (Skunks) 5 vs OnePuke Renegades 1
Div 1 Women (Kura Pa) 5 vs Alfriston 0
