WA Over 55's - 2010 Match Reports

WA vs VIC - Monday, September 27, 2010

WA opened their 2010 Championship with a well earned 1 – 0 victory over the Victorian Div 1 team. This game started at a lively pace with the Vic’s giving WA a fair run for their money! The Vic midfield had their fair share of the ball, but most of the attack they put together came up against a solid WA defence backline who were marking tightly. 
After about 12 mins into the game the WA midfield took control of the middle, albeit at a slower pace, they then started to move forward more convincingly, causing the Vic defence more and more problems. Michael Nobbs (MN) became more dominant and created several strong attacks as well as laying off great passes down both flanks. With WA now pushing hard and continuing to play deep inside the Vic half, it was inevitable that cracks would appear and with our third short corner, Maurice Giles (MG) fired in a good shot from about 3rd phase play to record our first goal. 

The Vic goalie Gilbert Doutre had an outstanding game and made many fine saves throughout the numerous attacks and shots on goal. Geoff Lewis at full back also made some strong and telling tackles which broke down many of the WA forward penetrations. 

Both Rudy Keswick and Wayne Cutler (WC) received lots of good ball and made some telling raids deep into the Vic 25 and circle, only to find their last pass or the next final touch, letting WA down. Numerous short corners went unrewarded and in the end the final score of 1 – 0 flattered the Vic team. MN was dominant and instrumental in helping WA to dominate this game with more possession and attack, which forced the Vic’s to resort to long bashing passes up to their two lone strikers high up field. To their credit the WA deep defence always had these two strikers tightly marked and under control and would invariably just come straight back with the ball and start another counter attack. 

The stubborn Vic defence held WA out with some clever play from a few individuals, but they were missing three key players, who when back playing, will add some punch to this team and will still cause many problems for their opposition in their remaining games. Always a dangerous team who can hurt you on the counter attack, especially with only a 1 goal margin! 

All the WA team put in a solid performance, although a bit slow in moving the ball quickly, they appeared to be well balanced in all areas of the pitch and MN the standout player. 

Match report by Ray Norton 



Result: WA 1 – VIC 0 
Goal scorer: Maurice Giles 
Best player as nominated by VIC: Michael Nobbs 
Cards: Wayne Cutler (Yellow)

WA vs WAC - Wednesday, September 29, 2010

WA played their second game at the Bunbury No 1 field against the local country team in front of their home crowd. This is reputed to be one of the strongest O/55 country teams in many years and certainly as always, they did challenge us with a tough but clean and most competitive game. WA ended up winning this game 4 – 0 by putting in a very disciplined team performance, that was most pleasing to be a part of. Without the presence of Michael Nobbs everyone stepped up a couple of gears and moved the ball around impressively at a good pace. 
Coach Rob Lawson made some positional player changes which proved to have a good impact as the team seemed to have much better structure and balance. Even with the interchanges WA always looked good in all positions, both when on attack and in defense. WA played with good width and depth stretching the Country team at every opportunity. 
With Wayne Cutler (WC) starting at centre forward, Dudley Evans (DE) left wing, Maurice Giles (MG) & Geoff Robinson (GR) at inners and Rudy Keswick (RK) right wing, this combination got to work straight away and put the country defense to the sword. Good surging runs with impressive inter-passing were causing lots of trouble for the country defenders and WA were rewarded with their first goal from a great run by DE down the left flank and then along the base line where he set up a tap in goal for Dave Herrington. 
DE may be the old man of this team, but today he showed his excellent basic skills and the wise head that he still plays so effectively with. He set up the first couple of short corners one of which resulted in our second goal by WC. 

In the second half another two goals came from RK who scored a fabulous field goal and a tap in goal from a great lay-off by GR from a short corner variation. Although we always seem to praise forwards for their daring runs and flair I have to give full credit to our defense, as today they were much more slick and were always giving the forwards good quality and early ball most of the time. Graham Nicholls was very efficient at left half and added a lot of counter attacks down the left flank, while the skipper John Chapman did exactly the same down our right, with his normal attacking and very steady game. 
All in all a pleasing win, but a most satisfying performance!!  
I think that this is the best O/55 team to represent WA in a Championship and hope we can continue to keep improving our play as we have in this game?!  

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 4 – WAC 0 
Goal scorers: Dave Herrington 1, Wayne Cutler 1, Rudy Keswick 2 
Best player: Rudy Keswick 
Cards: Rudy (Yellow)

WA vs NSW2 - Friday, October 1, 2010 at Busselton

WA put paid to NSW second team with a resounding 8 – 0 victory in the late game. 
WA were 2 – 0 up at half time after a rather mediocre first half with lots of golden opportunities not taken in front of goal where their basic skills let them down badly. 
After the restart the WA side really put together some great hockey with excellent forward inter- passing and most unselfish lay-offs within the NSW circle. 
WA had now lifted the pace of the game to a good level and the passing was more slick and straight onto their own sticks. 
With WA now regularly putting up to 8 passes in a row together, they were going from goal line to attacking circle without the opposition even getting a touch! 

Had it not been for John “Willow” Williamson the NSW goalie the score-line would have reached deep into double figures. 
Willow had a superb game making some brilliant saves and was duly awarded man of the match. (His third in three games) 

With the entire team contributing good performances it must be noted that the forwards were all fully responsible for this goal feast with their fine passing and playmaking. 

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 8 – NSW2 0 
Goal scorers: Maurice Giles (3), Rudy Keswick, Dave Herrington, Graham Nicholls, Rob Lawson. 
Best player: Rudy Keswick 

WA vs QLD - Monday, October 4, 2010

After winning their 3 games in Pool 2 and securing top spot, WA O’55’s started their cross pool play-offs with a fine 4 - 0 win against Pool 1 winners Queensland. 
Totally dominating their opposition, WA played the better, faster and more decisive hockey all around the park. Once again the WA forwards ran the Queensland defence ragged with continuous pressure on their defence. This pressure is also helped by the fact that WA have managed to play 70 – 80 percent of their game time in the opposition half, and much of the time eight or nine WA players are camped in the opposition half. Again the WA defence were superb and clinical in mopping up any raids made into their half with all the possession gained, immediately turned back into attack and the ball delivered back to the forwards with quick accurate passes! WA have still not conceded a goal and look well settled. 

With the score 3 - 0 at half time Rob Lawson started to rest most of the squad, making more changes, with each player having shorter periods on the pitch. After scoring another goal early in the second half and the match result virtually sealed, these changes did cause WA to lose some rhythm and momentum, but they continued to dominate and were always in control. 

Goal scorers today were Wayne Cutler with 2, both from well taken short corners and Tom Long and Maurice Giles one each. 

Man of the match: Wayne Cutler 

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 4 – QLD 0

WA vs NSW - Tuesday, October 5, 2010

This much anticipated match which is always regarded as the clash of the “hockey giants” in Veterans hockey, especially in the 50’s and 55’s age groups, where NSW and WA have tended to do battle in most gold medal matches over the last 10 years. WA started nervously and slowly allowing NSW some control of the midfield and to have some raids deep into their territory. After withstanding this initial pressure with good defensive work the WA team gained control of the midfield and started to tighten the screws, applying huge pressure on the NSW defenders. WA were now playing with pace and started supplying their forwards with loads of consistent, accurate passes that pierced the defensive lines continuously, allowing them many shots on goal and short corners. This pressure took its toll and WA were 3 – 0 up after 17 minutes. WA conceded their first goal in 5 matches to a short corner well struck by Milton Naylor, which did go under the right foot of goalie Max Viner. It appeared that Max had hooked his foot on a seam on the shabby turf of this No 2 field, which allowed a rather soft goal really. Without making excuses, this turf is now very old and has many tears and lifting seams, but does still play well when watered heavily, as they do. The pitch did not significantly affect the quality of the hockey, especially that of the WA team, who put together a very polished performance, totally dominating this game and making NSW look like a team from an older division. 

WA started the second half with a 5 – 1 lead and proceeded to smash in another 6 goals during the second half, with a display of brilliant attacking hockey, such as probably not seen at this level before. 

It would be unfair to name any players in this game as all that played, were at their best and totally demolished NSW, who did have a few injury woes, with 3 of their better players unable to take the field in this game. In the end this was an 11 – 1 thrashing and certainly WA’s finest performance in this Championship and many, many years of veterans hockey! 

Report by Ray Norton  

Result: WA 11 – NSW 1 
Goal scorers: Wayne Cutler 3, Maurice Giles and Tommy Long 2 each, with singles to Geoff Robinson, Michael Nobbs, Dudley Evans and Dave Herrington 
Best player: Greg Wood 

WA vs VIC2 - Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Well as they say in the classics, “after the Lord Mayors show”............., WA managed to bring themselves down quite a few rungs off their performance ladder. Although having already qualified for top spot and to play the team who finishes fourth, WA were in a position which would not have changed even had they lost this game. Never the less, they went out with the intention to win, play good hockey, but to rest up most of the team along the way. WA dropped the pace of their game substantially and with some rather careless and ill-disciplined play, turned the ball over and were robbed of possession far too often! Some of the players did look tired as this was their 3rd game in 3 days and 6th overall. Towards the middle of the first half WA did manage to improve on the pace slightly and were always in control against a determined Victorian team. 

Not really too much to report on this game as it did not reach any great heights, but WA were still effective enough to ensure a comprehensive win that shows this team can win even when playing badly. 

Michael Nobbs was the standout player again, at time toying with the Victorian defenders in setting up some great attacking moves. The WA defence were good again but did allow a breakaway goal in the second half to concede their second goal of the tournament. WA ended up easily winning this game 6 – 1 to wrap up their pool game section of the tournament with 35 goals for and 2 against in 6 games played. A very good team effort with their NSW 1 thrashing being the highlight performance that is going to live long in the memories of many players from all teams in this 55 Division. 

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 6 – VIC2 1 
Goal scorers: Tommy Long and Rob Lawson 2 each, and singles to Dudley Evans and Rudy Keswick 
Best player: A surprised Maurice Giles

Semi-Final: WA vs VIC - Friday, October 8, 2010

WA ensured themselves a place in the O/55 Div 1 grand final today with a good workman-like 4 – 1 win over Victoria. WA started well with good structure and good crisp passing which lead to a goal in the first 10 minutes from a good attack down their right hand side where John Chapman (JC) laid off a great pass for Tommy Long to finish off. WA controlled most of the play thereafter and continued to apply pressure down both flanks and were rewarded with a second goal also coming from a similar attack down their right with JC doing the same again and setting up Geoff Robinson with another great pass into the circle where he finished off the move. 

In the second half WA continued to dominate and were rewarded with an early goal from some great forward work where Dave Herrington stole the ball from a Vic defender coming out of defence. He took off towards goal and held off 3 or 4 tackles before eliminating the goalie to tap in. Numerous short corners went unrewarded in this game, when the final shot was hit wide of the goals, or the pass went astray. JC scored the 4th goal when he rounded off a fine move into the circle to put the icing on the cake for WA. JC also had a very good game today rounding off a very good skippers tournament. 

With the job done WA did drop right off the pace in the final 10 - 15 minutes allowing the Vics to score 1 goal. A good effort all round again with the WA defence doing all that was asked of them with very good marking as well as good tackling back from the forwards. 

This team has done lots of hard work in setting themselves up for the ultimate goal. They have played excellent hockey along the way and must now back up my statement, that they are the best O/55 WA side ever! So here is hoping they will go all the way.  

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 4 – VIC 1 
Best player: Graham Nicholls

Final: WA vs QLD - Saturday, October 9, 2010

WA have proven themselves to be the “Premier Team” in Australian Over 55’s hockey for 2010. After having gone undefeated throughout their campaign and then clinching the gold medal in the Grand Final on Saturday, they have taken their challenge the whole way. Now undeniably the best ever WA O/55 team and possibly even Australian O’55 team, with 41 goals for and only 2 against?  

WA started the final well and soon had QLD defending desperately from attacks down both flanks. Numerous short corners and shots on goal were successfully defended and goalkeeper Peter Mann was kept very busy, as were the other 7 and 8 players that came back to assist with this WA onslaught. This was typical finals hockey with both teams not wanting to give an inch and many basic errors occurring due to the nerves and hype surrounding the occasion. The half time whistle came with the score level on 0 – 0 with WA being totally dominant and disappointed not to have scored, while QLD would have been most happy not to have conceded? 

The second half started with Rob Lawson (RL) making some positional changes, most notably moving Michael Nobbs (MN) out of inner and to centre half and Ray Norton going to Right Half. This structure proved most effective as MN was able to dictate the play more effectively, as often more than 2 QLD players would rush towards him desperately trying to shut him down, without any success, as he would eliminate them while making ground quickly, then release the ball to the WA forwards who now had the huge holes in defense that they could work with. About 8 minutes into the half and with our second short corner MN scored from a direct shot on goal, after dragging the ball around the first runner out. This took the pressure off WA, who now knew they can and will win if they up the tempo and play the style of hockey they have over the past two weeks. QLD dropped right off the pace and started to tire, making more and more mistakes. With WA now right on top and totally dominating the game, RL switched MN back into the forward line and returned other players to their usual or more conventional positions. MN scored his second goal from another short corner with about 15 minutes to go and Maurice Giles put the result beyond doubt with a fine goal, sealing a great 3 – 0 victory to WA. 

Gold medals all around, a smiling coach and team went off to celebrate a wonderful week, with lots of great hockey played and many new “friendships-for-life” being born! 
As in the past, it has always been a great pleasure to be a part of a WA Vets team. This has been an exceptional bunch of guys with very good hockey skills, who listened and believed, and then went out striving to play the best hockey they could - as a team! In so doing, they have raised the bar of this Division to a new level. 

Great to be a part of and a privilege to do the match reports. 

“Ok boyz, go out de, tek e look at a couple…….. den boom it about”!! 

Adios Amigos 

BOG: (Not voted, but would have been MN I am sure?) 

Report by Ray Norton 

Result: WA 3 – QLD 0