WA Over 55's - 2004 Match Reports

WA vs NSW - 27th September, 2004

Result: NSW 7 - WA 2 
An inauspicious start for the ‘Silver Ducks’, NSW fired up quickly and after 40 seconds scored their first off a deflection high into the top left hand corner of the net. This they followed up after only 4 minutes with a clinically taken short corner, slotting the ball just inside the left post with a well struck hit. WA received their first injury after 2 minutes when Dave Mellor suffered a ‘Forrest Gump’ injury ‘in his left buttock’. There ensued some tough midfield play with WA starting to gain some useful influence and the understanding between members of this newly formed team slowly grew. The half time score was 4 – 0 with the other 2 goals coming from another short and a penalty flick. Best players for WA in the first half were Bill Price, KY Lee and Nigel Thomas. 
The second half was better for WA, but NSW got their 5th from a reverse stick strike at knee high after a good save from Graeme Sansom, and their 6th was an own goal from Ashley Hams, desperately trying to stop the ball from going in. After about an hours play WA got a penalty flick thanks to Simon Williams being deliberately crunched inside the circle. Nigel Thomas, after asking Mal Horrigan who should take the flick, was nominated and despite taking no flicks this year put the ball hard into the top left hand corner. With 2 minutes to go Nigel Thomas got his second moving past the prostrate goalie before slotting it in past a defender. 
Best Player as awarded by NSW was KY Lee. 
‘Defeated but not Down !’

WA vs VIC Metro - 28th September, 2004

Result: WA 3 - VIC (Metro) 2 - Our First Win ! 
Our first game under lights started at 5.30pm, with the Launceston cold descending like a blanket, making the warm up difficult but all the more important. The sides were closely matched and WA had a legitimate goal disallowed after 10 minutes. The Vic’s were the first to score mid way through the first half after a well constructed interchange between the forwards. 
WA equalised within 5 minutes when Ross “Rocket’ Lonnie pushed a short pass to Terry ‘Boris’ Parker who placed the ball expertly into the narrow gap between the goalie and the right hand corner. This remained the score at half time. 
Within the first minute of the second half WA drew ahead when the ‘Rocket’ (who was involved in all three goals), hit the ball hard through a melee of players to the right post where Simon ‘Lunger’ Williams anticipated well and ran in with his stick on the ground to deflect the ball into the net. All of the 14 spectators erupted ! WA drew further ahead when after a fast run down the right Nigel ‘GPRS’ Thomas passed inside to the ‘Rocket’ who flicked the ball inside the circle to John ‘AKA’ Smith whose deflection beat the goalie and he was able to follow up and run the ball into the net. 
Both teams continued to push hard and the Vics’s were rewarded with a second goal with 12 minutes to go. WA were determined not to concede another goal and defended stoically including thwarting two short corners against them. The final whistle brought a good game played in the best Veteran’s spirit to an end, and Graeme “Aggro’ Sansom was awarded best player by the Vic’s and Terry ‘Boris’ Parker voted best player by the team, closely followed by Simon ’Lunger’ Williams, Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom, KY ‘Shrek’ Lee and Mal “Hagar’ Horrigan.

WA vs WA Country - 29th September

Result: WA 0 - WA Country 4  
What can one say about a match between two West Australian sides; I guess we are guaranteed one WA winner ( and one loser). The WA Country side have swept all before them, defeating South Australia and Queensland and now WA Metro. The game started tentatively with both sides testing defences and trying to control midfield. WA Country scored their first after 16 minutes after a hard shot from the right from a tight angle rebounded from Graeme‘Aggro’Sansom’s pads into the net. The second followed shortly after from a shot which rebounded off ‘Aggro’s’ pads straight to a WA Country forward who steered a bouncing ball into the net. WA Country continued to pressure the defence, giving them little time to gain control of the ball. The third goal came just before half time, from a short corner, for which WA Country are notorious, with a hard hit shot from which followed a series of deflections resulting in a goal. This score line was taken into half time. 
The second half saw WA Metro continue to develop as a team against a talented and determined opposition. There were several notable attacks on goal that resulted in several short corners which were not able to be converted. These were encouraging signs as WA improved significantly on their first half performance but were unable to translate this onto the scoresheet. WA Country’s final goal came again from a short corner with the ball being moved left and then across the goal before being driven home from close quarters. 
As with the previous two games this one was played in good humour and the final siren was a welcome relief to some of the tired legs from three games in three days. 
Best player as voted by WA Country was Terry ‘Boris’ Parker and fairest and best by the WA team was fittingly our captain and coach Mal ‘Hagar’ Horrigan. Such was the spread of the voting that even David ‘Septic’ Mellor received a vote and he did not play through injury !!! 

WA vs TAS - 1st October

Result: WA 3 - Tasmania 3 
WA managed to salvage a draw in the last seconds of the game after leading for the whole of the first half. 
WA started well, the best of any game we have played so far, and dominated the midfield creating chances at goal, one of which was capitalised mid way through the first half when Dave ‘Spider’ Evans struck a hard ball from the left sideline near to the corner post which whistled across the circle beating the defence and the goalie where Simon ‘Lunger’ Williams was true to his nickname and ‘lunged’ full length to steer the ball into the net, a well taken and spectacular goal! 
WA continued to press with several near misses and went into half time with confidence. 
The second half saw a reversal of form with Tasmania gradually exerting their influence in midfield and were rewarded after 8 minutes when a skilful run down the right wing resulted in the ball being pulled back into the centre of the circle beating ‘Agrro’ and the defence and being swept in by the centre forward. Tasmania drew ahead mid way through the second half when they were awarded a penalty flick after a shot from a Tasmanian short corner hit Bill ’Rufus’ Campbell’s foot on the line. The penalty was neatly put away low into the right hand corner. 
WA equalised when Mal ‘Hagar’ Horrigan took a free hit about 5 metres outside the circle and deftly pushed the ball to Terry ‘Boris’ Parker whose shot was deflected off the keepers stick on the way into the goal. The success was short lived when after only a few minutes the Tasmanian’s third goal was a repeat of the first, a quick run down the right, along the back line and pulled back for the forward to sweep into the net. 
With only 10 minutes remaining the prospects for WA looked bleak, as both sides were tiring noticeably. Tasmania tried to slow the game down, including laboriously long hits and possession hockey. With only 10 seconds remaining Mal ‘Hagar’ Horrigan took a free hit just outside the circle and drove it goalwards, where it deflected of a Tasmanian stick and then foot to eventually find its way to the right hand post where John ‘AKA’ Smith gratefully took advantage and scooped the ball round the goalie and into the net. There was no time even to restart, with final siren ending the game with what was probably a fair result. 
Simon ‘Lunger’ Williams scooped the pool being voted Best Player by Tasmania and his team mates. Second was Ross ‘Rocket’ Lonnie and third John ‘AKA’ Smith.

WA vs SA - 2nd October

Result: WA 2 - South Australia 2 
WA have now taken ‘grasping a draw from the jaws of defeat’ to an art form, securing a second draw with less than a minute to go. Again WA started well with the team responding diligently to the pre-match instructions by tight marking the opposition. However, WA suffered another injury when Terry ‘Kermit’ Gaston tore a ‘hammy’ and will miss the rest of the tournament. Pressure by WA was rewarded after about 15 minutes when Nigel ‘GPRS’ Thomas ran down the right and pushed the ball left to Stan ‘Rabbit’ Balding who was unmarked in the circle and calmly swept the ball past the goalie for his first goal of the tournament. WA were unable to capitalise further and it was South Australia who found the net after a short corner was defended valiantly with two saves on the line on each side of the goal by Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom and Ashley ‘Guggs’ Hams, before South Australia finally scrambled the ball into the net. This was the score at half time. 
Again, the second half saw a reversal of form with South Australia gradually wearing WA down and they were rewarded after about 20 minutes when after a series of short corners, Dave ‘Spider’ Evans was deemed to have cleared the ball with the back of his stick (which he actually did!) and thereby a ‘deliberate foul’ resulted in a penalty flick for South Australia, which was skilfully converted by a strong flick into the left hand corner. 
With only 10 minutes remaining the prospects for WA again looked bleak, as both sides were feeling the results of playing 5 games in 6 days. Mistakes by both sides flourished and end to end hockey resulted. Remembering the previous days result WA never capitulated and continued to press and with less than a minute to go were awarded a short corner. Discussion in the ‘huddle’ ensued such that even the umpire complained, but the debate created a successful outcome when Bill ‘Flasher’ Price controlled the ball, pushed it (unintentionally) left to Terry ‘Boris’ Parker who swept the ball past the outstretched keeper just inside the left hand post. Terry ‘Boris’ Parker had ‘blooded’ his new stick on its first outing! Our first goal from a short corner, and clearly discussion is absolutely essential. This time there was time to restart but only briefly. Again, although South Australia felt they had been robbed, the result was probably a fair reflection of two sides evenly matched. 
South Australia selected ‘Number 13’ as the best player from the team book, Simon Thompson who actually did not make it to Tasmania, but the confusion was short lived as they really meant to select Ross ‘Rocket’ Lonnie who demurely accepted the award with cries of ‘me, me, me’. Ashley ‘Guggs’ Hams was voted best player by the team and other ‘honourable mentions’ were Stan ‘Rabbit’ Balding, the two Bills ‘Rufus’ and ‘Flasher’ and Terry ‘Boris’ Parker. 

WA vs ACT - 3rd October

Result: WA 3 - ACT 2 
WA secured our second victory of the tournament with a hard fought game against the ACT at Devonport overlooking the bleak, windswept but majestic Bass Strait. WA have overcome their slow starts of the earlier games and fired up quickly with determination and commitment resulting in a field goal after about 5 minutes. A melee on the left just outside of the circle produced a hard pass to Simon ‘Lunger’ Williams whose subsequent shot hit a defenders foot and was assessed by the umpire as having been en route into the net. The penalty stroke was a repeat of the one in the first game when Nigel ‘GPRS’ Thomas placed a hard flick wide of the goalie into the left hand corner. 
Against the run of play ACT equalised within 5 minutes from a defensive error when a 16 yard hit went straight to an ACT forward who centred the ball which was swept into the goal clear of ‘Aggro’s’ left hand. WA continued to press and after about 20 minutes were rewarded when Dave ‘Spider’ Evans took charge of the sideline hit and passed to Terry ‘Boris’ Parker who pushed the ball to Nigel ‘GPRS’ Thomas in the circle whose shot was blocked by the goalie, only to have ‘GPRS’ claim his second from the rebound with a hard shot just inside the right hand post, beating the defender. 
WA’s attack was joined at one point by Bill ‘Rufus’ Campbell who demonstrated why he is best as a full back, when he charged into the circle only to miss his shot at an open goal. Similarly, Stan ‘Rabbit’ Balding should have scored by following up a hard shot at goal as it bounced through the goalies pads but claimed sore shins had restricted his movement. WA went into half time in the lead and with confidence. The half time briefing was on getting a third goal to create some breathing space, and this WA did after less than 5 minutes when Terry ‘Boris’ Parker skilfully weaved his way left through three defenders and then expertly struck a reverse stick centre where Simon ‘Lunger’ Williams was there to execute one of his trademark ‘diving lunges’ to steer the ball into the net. 
ACT gradually clawed their way back into the match and for the last 15 minutes pushed more players forward in attack. With 12 minutes to go ACT got their second from a short corner after an interchange in the circle was finally resolved when a shot went through ‘Aggro’s‘ pads to give an easy goal to the forward on the line who simply tapped it in. ACT continued to press hard and neither team gave any quarter. As a consequence Mal ‘Hagar’ Horrigan was given a ‘virtual’ green card by the umpire for undue roughness, mitigated only by his team mates pleading it was simply age and infirmity. Legs certainly began to feel like lead after 6 games in 7 days. Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom made some fine saves under pressure as the defence held firm. ACT secured a short corner with 10 seconds to go and for a moment WA thought that they might get ‘some of their own medicine’ with a last second equaliser, but ‘Aggro’ made arguably his best save of the match deflecting the shot with his pads over the backline, and the game was at an end. 
Best Player voted by ACT was Bill ‘Flasher’ Price, Best Player voted by his WA team mates was Bill ‘Rufus’ Campbell with ‘Aggro’ a distant second. ‘Hard work pays off !’

WA vs VIC - 4th October

Result: WA 0 - Vic 2 
WA’s seventh game was an early one at 8.30am, requiring bleary eyed and unshaven players to emerge before 7am, after an excellent dinner the previous evening with all of the other WA Metro teams at the Riverside Golf Club. In the dappled sunshine of an early Launceston morning WA battled valiantly against one of the tournament favourites, Victoria, despite the absence of our captain and coach Mal ‘Hagar’ Horrigan who was still doped with morphine and valium after a trip to the emergency department of the Launceston General Hospital with severe back pain following a visit to a local ‘sports’ masseur. Fortunately Mal’s condition is improving. WA did welcome back Dave ‘Septic’ Mellor who incurred a deep hamstring or gluteus injury in the first game and he ran out exceptionally well, such that he was subsequently fined for ‘playing possum’ with his injury. 
Victoria’s over 55’s line up is impressive, with no less than 10 National and ex-National players, but WA countered their play effectively with tight marking and had several chances for the forwards to score in the first 20 minutes. Dave ‘Spider’ Evans, Bill ‘Flasher’ Price, Ashley ‘Guggs’ Hams, Bill ‘Rufus’ Campbell and KY ‘Shrek’ Lee all defended well and thwarted the Vic’s to the extent that their supporters were giving them hell, and it subsequently turned out that these ‘supporters’ were the players wives and partners. Victoria’s running game continually broke down through close attention by WA players and at half time the game was tied at nil all. 
The process was repeated in the second half until after 12 minutes an attack down the left side led to a melee just outside the circle when a centre was deflected off a WA stick and the bouncing ball evaded the keeper and was eventually steered in at the far post by a diving forward. WA did not lose their composure and continued to move the ball well from a predominantly defensive position. The game see-sawed until with about 14 minutes to go Victoria finally put the game out of WA’s reach with a second goal directly from a short corner with a hard shot to the right of goal as ‘Aggro’ desperately tried to cover. 
Both teams maintained a credible level of effort, despite the rapid onset of ‘jelly legs’ and with just over 1 minute to go Bill “Rufus’ Campbell received the first yellow card of the tournament and was sent off for dissent, for commenting that the umpires decision on awarding a short corner was ‘bulls..t’. The resulting short corner was saved by ‘Aggro’ and the game ended immediately. 
Best Player as voted by Victoria was Bill ‘Flasher’ Price and by WA players was Dave ‘Spider’ Evans with Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom second. 
“The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak !!”

WA vs QLD - 6th October

Result: WA 0 - Queensland 1 
WA’s eighth and final game of the tournament started with a disciplined run and stretching session, led as always by KY ‘Shrek’ Lee. Games between WA and Queensland are traditionally hard fought affairs and this one was no exception, with a single goal deciding the outcome. WA’s defence held strongly against a spirited Queensland attack and demonstrated their growing prowess with some magnificent tackles and clearances. WA had their chances, with a hard shot from Nigel ‘GPRS’ Thomas rocketing back off the post. Despite this being the last of eight games in 11 days, the team was clearly enjoying themselves and the mutual support was evident. 
However it was Queensland who scored after about 20 minutes when a push from a short corner went between Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom’s pads and into the net. Despite being a goal down WA remained competitive with the game going from end to end. 
Queensland went into half time in the lead and probably deservedly so, having had most of the game. 
WA lifted in the first part of the second half with some good interchanges between the half backs ‘Guggs’ and ‘Rufus’ and the forwards ‘Rocket’ and ‘Boris’ and WA again went close when Dave ‘Septic’ Mellor, returning from injury, had a shot blocked. As the game progressed Queensland forced a series of short corners to which ‘Aggro’ was equal, pulling off some tremendous saves, in two cases sweeping the ball away with his outstretched stick from a prone position, having first blocked the shot with his pads. ‘Aggro’ also lived up to his nickname in being the recipient of a green card, for ‘agressively’ tackling an unsuspecting Queensland forward. WA were awarded a second green card to Bill ‘Flasher’ Price for an ‘agricultural’ stick check. Nevertheless the game was played in good spirits and the final siren, whilst it denoted a win to Queensland, also brought welcome relief to a whole bunch over over 55 year olds who think they are Peter Pan and finally sounded the final siren on an excellent tournament, in a lovely location, played in the best of traditions, where players with a mutual interest in hockey became friends. 
Best Player as voted by Victoria and by his team mates was Graeme ‘Aggro’ Sansom, whose performance has blossomed through the tournament. 
“Tis better to have played and lost, than never to have played at all”

WA vs ??? Final