KEW Hockey Club

KEW 5ths Metro 1 East v Southern United
17:00 Saturday 25th April at Moorabbin

The men’s fifths squad went on a journey down Warrigal Road looking to improve on the previous weeks performance against Baw Baw’ seconds. Southern had 3-3 draw against Dandenong in Round 1, so it was apparent that the 5ths defense needed some tightening up and the forward line needed to capitalise on their 25 yard penetrations.

Despite a few late withdrawals and the rain beginning to pour as the team took to the field, the team had the luxury of a bench. But this was short lived as Bill tweaked his hamstring in the opening minutes.

This was further compounded by what seemed to be a serious knee injury to Steve Coutts. But he battled on in true ANZAC spirit. After the game it was also revealed that Euan Morrison had also injured his hamstring and now looks to be out for several weeks.

Southern were first to hit the scoreboard despite some very even possession between the teams. The game was played at a frenetic pace with the action moving to the ends of the ground constantly. Macca soon had a golden opportunity to level the scores. Excellent play through the work of Coutts and Harris opened up the Southern defense like a can of sardines. The final pass found Macca in open space behind the keeper but his deflection went across the face of goal and passed the left post by a mere inch.

Macca was soon in the thick of it again receiving a deft pass from Keam. Turning on a ten cent piece, Macca released the ball at goal – again the radar slightly off, this time an inch to the right of the right hand post.

More positive forward movement had the boys line up for several penalty corners. These look to be on the money. A bit of practice at training should see some reward. Southern had their share of penalty corners and soon struck home – solid shot down the left hand post.

Defensive penalty corners will also need to be worked on.

The break saw the good guys down to eleven men and two goals behind on the scoreboard. But certainly confident of getting a result from the game. Bill and Macca addressed the team highlighting the fact that KEW had the better of the play and looked more comfortable with the new rules and that the team certainly was not out of it. We had had more attacking opportunities and quite possibly tipped the scales in possession.

The second half got off to a miserable start. More rain and Southern posted their third goal inside the first five minutes. KEW steeled themselves and set about their business like true professionals, making space, working in pairs and threes and putting a lot of pressure on the Southern midfield and defense. None of this would have been possible without Harris, Roberts and Cain’s pressure in the center. Euan, Brad, Seb and Keam on the back line held firm while McMahon, Coutts and Sorensen attacked and pressured the Southern defense and midfield again and again.

Harris soon broke across the 25 and his solo run resulted in a devastating blast from the top of the D into the far corner of goal to register the first for the away team. This truly inspired the rest of the team and the pressure poured onto the Southern in irrepressible fashion. Runs were being made down the right through Keam, Cain and McMahon with last gasp efforts denying Macca a goal. The left hand side was also causing issues with Fuentes, Roberts and Coutts doing likewise and earning penalty corners for their troubles.

This forward pressure soon resulted in a penalty corner from a scrappy defensive effort from the United keeper. The attack had Harris and McMahon hunting the ball at the keepers feet mere inches from the goal line when the keeper went to ground and should have been called for a stroke when he was directly over the top of the pill. The umpire had called for a penalty corner. This resulted in the second goal  for the KEW boys and a well executed penalty corner play it was. Macca pushing out to Cain for Sorensen to strike, but the variation was put in play with the strike turning to a pass to Harris on the right to smash in his second goal. The KEW boys could sniff victory on the rain soaked wind.

Soon after, another forward run by Harris and Cain found space through the middle of the D. Cain smashed a perfect pass to McMahon on the far post but he could not make the reverse deflection to level the scores.

Excellent encouraging play. Sorensen was in the mix looking to get in on the party but could not register a goal for himself after some great work down the left from Roberts and Harris allowed him to strike early in the D. Coutts was also working the left wing very well and his excellent lead to the penalty spot saw him deflect Harris’ straight drive into the corner to level the scores.

KEW kept the pressure on, but the game finished at a stalemate. It was certainly an impressive second half performance by the team – truly living up to the club song. The team showed great composure, adaptability and resolve to get the job done. With training and practice, this team will surely register their first win of the season very soon if not this weekend.

Full time score: 3-3 (HT 0-2)
Goals: Harris (2), Coutts (1)
Best: Harris, Coutts, Roberts, Keam, Cain, McMahon

Next Game: M1E v Old Xaverians 12:30 Sunday 3rd May @ Fortress Elgar – BE THERE!