Match 1: 28th March - Sydney University v Ryde

After a long preseason and a lot of hard work the team was eager and ready for the first match of the season. Overall the team started slowly, with some costly errors early in the piece giving Ryde a 2-0 lead. After some very promising counter attacking by the blue and gold and a host of short corners the score remained the same (no thanks to the bouncing patchwork quilt that is Ryde hockey turf) until the final seconds of the first half, when Roderick Musters slotted a front stick unorthodox short corner.  The second half again was proven to be tight knit competition as both teams made attacking advancements displaying some exciting hockey. Ryde was able to score a cheeky goal while Sydney Uni fought back in the last 10 converting a short corner flick by Scott "stop it" Heappey to make it 3-2, where the score remained.

Best and Fairest: Dan Field. After some impressive saves and some Jackie Chan like reflexes the team unanimously rewarded the GK with this reward.

Match 2: 30th March - Sydney University v NW Strikers

NW Strikers at home at Pennant Hills will always be a tough game, especially in light of their success last year. Nevertheless the team felt confident, and was hoping to cause an upset. The game was a well fought match with some simple errors leading to untimely goals against SU. Going into the second half 3-0 down the team kept their heads and the defence held strong restricting the powerful Strikers side to 1 goal in the second half. A converted penalty corner by Scott "stop it" Heappey gave Uni its only goal, while some unlucky chances in the circle could have tightened the gap.   Overall the team felt a great improvement from Friday night's game and is looking forward to showing some firther improvements in form next Sunday against Sutherland at Sutherland.

Best and Fairest: Scott "stop it" Heappey. Our only goal scorer and strongest defender. It was only fair to grant this reward to the most attractive man in the club.

Tom Lobsey

Teams for Sunday 6 April are as follows. All games are at Sutho and vs Sutho.

Please make sure you are at the field 30 minutes before your game and allow lots of travel time. Remember it is at least 35 minutes from the Harbour Bridge to Sutho.

Playing Times on Sunday 6 April:

4th Grade -  11:00 am
3rd Grade  - 12:30 pm
2nd Grade - 2:00 pm
1st Grade -  3:30 pm

If you have any questions or issues, please contact Sam on 0420 978 267 or Damo on 0413 333 882.

Click here to read Tom Lobsey's report on how Mens First Grade went in the first two games (Ryde and NW Strikers) on 28-30 March.

The Men's Premier Squad pre-season training schedule has been released. Details are:

January

6th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
13th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
14th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
17th - HK ward Gym, Indoor Hockey, 6.30 - 8.00pm
20th - Turf Training - Cintra, Concord, 9.00am
21st - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
24th - HK Ward Gym, Indoor, 6.30 - 8.00pm
27th - Turf Training - Cintra, Concord, 9.00am
28th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
31st   - HK Ward Gym, Indoor, 6.30 - 8.00pm

February

3rd - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
4th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
6th - UPDATED -see News -was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only) 
7th - UPDATED -see News -was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm
10th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
11th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
13th - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 - 10-30pm (1st grade team only)
14th - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm (Happy Valentine's Day, Jimmy)
17th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
18th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm
20th - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only) 
21st - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm
24th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
25th - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus,7.00pm
27th - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only) 
28th - UPDATED -see News - was Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm

March

 2nd - Coogee Beach, 6.30am / Registration Day
 4th - Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm
 5th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only) 
 6th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm
 9th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
 11th -  Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm
 12th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only)
 13th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm
 16th - Coogee Beach, 6.30am
 18th -  Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm
 19th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 9.30 -10-30pm (1st grade team only)
 20th - Turf Training - Kyeemagh 8.30 - 10.30pm
 21st- 24th - Easter Carnival, Albury
 28th - First round of Competition

The schedule can also be downloaded here.

NOTE: This is preseason training for the Men's Premier Squad only. Some dates and times may change subject to arrangement of pre-season trips and games. Please let Sam Lobsey know if you have any enquiries regarding the above times/ venues or availability. Mob:  0420 978 267 or sheppo7@hotmail.com

The Firsts had a close game against competition leaders Glebe on Saturday 12 April, and were again extremely competitive but in the end lost 4-1.  Yong Soo-Kim and Nick Baker had their first games in the Blue and Gold and both made strong impressions. Things weren't helped when Tom Lobsey was hit by a stray Glebe stick very early in the game and had to leave the field for a short time. He came back on later, but with a Justin Langer style smile. Thankfully he is already back in shape, thanks largely to Rod Dixon B.D.S. (Liam's dad) who was there watching the game.
 
The 2nds continued their run of extremely tight games, but unfortunately the end result was a 3-1 loss. The highlight was a great team goal by SU which was the first goal that the Glebe team has let in all season. Five years ago Remo was coaching the Under 11s - now those former pupils are scoring goals with him!
 
The 3rds turned the day around for SU and absolutely thrashed Glebe 1-0. Dr Bott the fullback showed he was the complete package by scoring the only goal of the day with some clever play in the D. The team showed real spirit to hold out Glebe. They even built a number of counter-attacks through sustained periods of passing. As one of the 2nds said from the stands: "This is fantastic. Can you believe it's Sydney Uni?"

This weekend is a double header for some teams again. See the draw for details.

Result: Won 9-0

The core of our team remained from previous years to return for the much anticipated first match of the season aganst Bentstix. Good attendance at training seemed to further promise some level of team familiarity however the opposition was largely unknown and had just dropped two grades in order to meet us.

Bentstix started sharply and dominated the first 10 minutes with some nice passing. In response our defence held solidly with Crighton Smith leading at full back. It was then not long until our whole team started to gel.

Uni quickly dominated, particularly with good play from David Shillcock and Hayden Vale at right and left inner.  Both wings provided good support while Glenn Shirley, David and Hayden showed great form, scoring decisive goals without hesitation. Off the ball, constant pressure exerted by Uni exploited a shakey opposition defence, producing a wealth of possession and 4 or 5 goals to nil by half time.

The 2nd half continued in similar fashion, made easy by continuing solid work from the backs and halves which also provided some great attacking support play. Every player on the team performed exceptionally well. Space in attack was well used and the ball distributed nicely on several occasions. Final score was 9-0.

Final Team List: Grant Robertshaw; Crighton Smith; Clint Williamson; Lawrence Bye; Jock Steel; Phil Towers; Haydn Vale; David Shillcock; Marcus Tjiong; Tom Sidford; Glenn Shirley; Nakul Parmar

Goals: Glenn Shirley 4; David Shillcock 2; Haydn Vale 1; Tom Sidford 1; Clint Williamson 1

Best and Fairest: Haydn Vale 3, Glenn Shirley 2, David Shillcock 1

The local derby vs Glebe... When these two inner west sides face up, they fight for points, for pride but most of all they fight for the right to post game banter down at the local.

As the players enter the field friendships between the teams cease and the sticks come out. The SU team ran on slightly depleted as an Albury Carnival virus gripped most of the team, and it was evident straight away when a lack lustre start left Glebe with an early short corner conversion. However the SU team held strong for the remainder of the half, with some excellent mid-field defence in particular Yong Soo-Kim who led the team from the middle. After a 2nd Glebe goal and some persisting SU advances the glebe defence was broken, as Khev Williams swept in his first goal for the season from the 7 yard spot. Running on for the second half the SU team was prepared for a hard battle as Glebe attempts to retain its dominance. An exciting see-sawing second half left the spectators on the edge of their seats with both defences restricting any changes to the score line. In the final 10min of the game, the Glebe team took advantage of the tiring SU team and put away 2 unorthodox goals. Final Score 4-1. With the players back in the sheds the team awarded the young Matt Davies with the `Man of the Match'. Congratulations!

I like to take this opportunity to thank Rod and Sharne Dixon for their dentistry efforts on Sat night, it was greatly appreciated. After I received a stick in the face early in the piece, they preformed a fabulous job repairing me and were so efficient I was able to join the two teams for a quiet red at the Roxbury later that night.

Tom Lobsey

Leading into the weekend's game against Moorebank at Moorebank, the SU team was finally starting to feel settled, comfortable and most importantly the majority were healthy. With the addition of a number of new players to the club the team was beginning to mould into shape and after the weekend's performance this was proven.

The game started in full-swing as both teams battled out for early possession and an early lead. The SU team were holding its structure very well and in attack was proven to good when the SU team hit an early lead by a back-stick flick from Tom Lobsey (self glorification). This lead didn't last long, though, as 3 min later Moorebank levelled the score. The score remained 1-1 for the majority of the game as both teams displayed some thrilling high intensity hockey.

The second half produced some excellent scoring opportunities for SU and as the cards flew out for the Moorebank side things were looking promising for the SU team. In response the Moorebank team lifted and was able to slot goal through an overlapping play on the right hand side late in the piece. Looking grim as the time ticked down the SU team fought back and after a number of attacking plays on the right hand side an inner circle fore-stick hit by Rodderick Musters levelled the score. With little time left and both teams desperate for the win, both were unable to clinch maximum points. Final Score 2-2.

`Man of the Match' Sam Lobsey. He is a kook. (Nah well played Scrappy!)

NB : New Player's night is on this Friday (ANZAC Day) at the Roxbury.  It would be great to see you all there! It's going to be well wicked!

Tom Lobsey

Result: Win 6-1

With well earned wins already recorded by 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th grades, the word was out that the President's Keg for victories in all men's teams was soon to be delivered. The 7th grade team continued the effort with a 6-1 victory on Saturday evening against an understrength side from North West Strikers.
 
Of notable mention was Crichton Smith who filled in for keeper and Ken Kershaw who in his own team stood aside for others to play, unknowing that a spot had opened up with the 7's. Goals were scored by Glenn Shirley and Ken at two for each, while Haydn Valle scored one goal and created at least one other. "Special" Laurence Bye played an exceptional game and capped it off with a career first goal in the ending moments of the game.

The keg from the President went on hold as the remaining teams recorded a win and then a draw but the 7th grade team remained jubilant in maintaining their perfect win record of this season.

Thanks also to the 1st and 2nd graders for their support during and after the match.

Final Team List: Crichton Smith; Paul Rattray; Scott Porth; Clive Parkin; Larence Bye; Jock Steel; David Shillcock; Haydn Valle; Nakul Parmar; Phil Towers; Marcus Tjiong; Tom Sidford; Ken Kershaw; Glenn Shirley

Best and Fairest: Laurence Bye 3; Haydn Valle 2; Nakul Parmar 1

Season Goals: Glenn Shirley 7; Haydn Valle 3; David Shillcock 2; Tom Sidford 2; Ken Kershaw 2; Clint Williamson 1; Laurence Bye 1

Club fees for 2008 are due by the 10th of May. Players are ineligible for selection for SUHC teams from 10 May (ie after this weekend) onwards if they have not paid their fees by the 10th.

Fees can be paid by credit card (preferred) or handed directly to Rishiv, the Club's Executive Assistant. To arrange payment by credit card please contact Rishiv on r.rathore@susport.usyd.edu.au. 1st grade down to 6th grade are playing at P2 on Saturday 10th and Shive will be there from 12:30 till the end of our last game if you wish to deliver payments to him personally.

If you have any problems please contact Damo as soon as possible.

Executive Committee.

Result: Win 1-0

The 7th grade team played a toughly contested match against Ryde to earn a 1-0 win and continue their perfect win record for the season. Just a pity their match was not at P2 to be part of Club Day!

Syd Uni dominated the first half but found it difficult to work through a congested goal area. Uni keeper Grant Robertshaw made some pivotal saves to keep a clean sheet through the evenly contested second half.

With the threat of a scoreless draw looming, the winning goal was snatched by Uni with a minute in the game remaining. A quickly taken free hit just outside the D allowed Glenn Shirley to receive the ball a metre inside and turn nicely for a solid strike into the left lower corner.

Final Team List: Grant Robertshaw (K); Crichton Smith (B); Paul Rattray (B); Clive Parkin (H); Laurence Bye (H); Jock Steel (H); David Shillcock (CH); Phil Towers (I); Haydn Valle (I); Nakul Parmar (I); Marcus Tjiong (W); Tom Sidford (W); Clint Williamson (W/CF); Glenn Shirley (CF)

Best and Fairest: Glenn Shirley 3; David Shillcock 1; Haydn Valle 1; Nakul Parmar 1

Result: Win 1-0

Four late withdrawals left 7th grade with a skeleton eleven to face a surprisingly strong St George side in round 6 on 24 May. Aided by home advantage and a wealth of players, St George fielded a very good team with several skillful players. A first half Uni goal was created by the inners and slotted in calmly by right wing Tom Sidford but a tiring Uni attack was unable to produce much more penetration in either half of the game.

Once again the solid Uni defence was able to hold onto the lead despite some slick passing from St George and the exhausted 7th grade team gained another well deserved win in their toughest match of the season. Best and Fairest was won by Haydn Valle for a great work rate and individual skills in the inners.

Final Team List: Grant Robertshaw; Crichton Smith; Paul Rattray; Laurence Bye; Phil Towers; Haydn Valle; Nakul Parmar; Marcus Tjiong; Tom Sidford; Clint Williamson; Glenn Shirley

Result: 1 all draw.

This week's match was a real cliffhanger as we played a strong Bankstown side with home ground advantage. A parochial  crowd lurked in the warmth of their space heaters as we fought it out in the cold and damp. The game seesawed from one end to the other in the opening minutes, with both teams making penetrating attacks, with no result until Ken found the backboards with a strong hit off the short corner. The Bankstown centre half was particularly troublesome, repeatedly stealing the ball, and causing the usually unflappable Ken to exclaim 'its a bloody rabbit!' Martin found the only thing that seemed to work was drilling the ball through him  (when all else fails, use Glebe tactics), and felt only a modicum of guilt when he later found out the guy played under 15's.

Shortly before half time Bankstown claimed a goal to level the scores at 1 all. The second half was hard fought as both teams began to tire and the lactic acid built up. Sri made some strong raids down the right wing and there was evidence the forwards were beginning to gel as they got to read each other's game. Twice we were denied on the line, once off another Kershaw short corner. The second, a brilliant flick off the short by Dave, doubling up from the hitout, was deflected out at shoulder height. Alex was called on to make some strong saves and kept the ball out of the net until a flukey goal was disallowed because of a Bankstown foot, despite strong protests from the crowd.  Aaron almost lost his manhood when a Bankstown player lined him up with a screaming hit from from just outside the D, but he played on, oblivious to the pain.

The game hung in the balance and tensions began to mount. Late in the game, we brought the heavy artillery into the short corner battery as Bruce came up to take a strong short corner flick only to be denied again on the line by a Bankstown foot. The ensuing stroke was rocketing into the bottom right corner only to be brilliantly saved by the Bankstown keeper. Bruce was inconsolable, even though after the game the keeper was forced to admit there was a fair degree of arse involved. All in  all a fair result and a strong effort from a Sydney side that is growing in confidence. I expect we will peak in  time for the finals. Dave claimed the B&F with his usual rock solid defence and workrate.

MM

SUHC's mens games on the 14th are:

The cooler months have settled in and SUHC has decided to organize team hoodies to keep everyone warm, as well as providing another alternative for members to show their support for their favourite club!

This year we have designed a standard club hoodie, with the option of each team embroidering its team name on the front. Men's, women's and junior sizes are available and can be ordered at your next training session. The hoodies will cost $30.00 each, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the Foundation.

If you would like to order hoodies with your team name, please use the attached order form and nominate a team member to organise your order. Either Katie Burgess or Andy Elton will attend your main training sessions to take orders and collect money. All orders MUST be paid in cash by Friday, June 20th. Juniors should email orders to juniorhockey@suhc.asn.au .

Support your club and team! Order a hoodie this week and stay warm all winter  - and look Schhtop IT in it!!

SU draw 1-1 with St George on 31 May

After a series of hard fought matches with little in the way of results to show for them, Uni was seeking to consolidate a victory and move up the points table. The match began with much fervor as both teams were vying to establish dominance early. In the first half, Uni's wings and inners made piercing attacks threatening the St. George defense several times but failing to capitalize on opportunities. Nearing the end of the first half, both teams pushed hard, resulting in a couple of short corners, but nothing else of note to report. Half time score nil all.
 
With a renewed attack from St George after the break, Uni was on the back foot for the first few minutes of the second half. A solid back line maintained by Bruce , Aaron,  and Elias helped Uni keep the score level. Spectacular trapping by Aaron and good defence from Bruce and Elias, continually pushed back the attacks.
 
With Uni defence finding form quickly, st George was forced to build their attack around free hits and long corners which were soon demolished. However on one occasion, a free hit from just outside the circle, found a loosely marked forward  who maintained possession and managed a firm and flat hit towards goal. With the circle crowded with players, Cam resorted to an outstretched dive to deflect the shot, but missed narrowly, resulting in the ball finding the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
 
With less than 20 minutes left in the game, the goal jolted Uni into action. Brilliant hockey from Zuilli, constantly plagued the opposition's defense. With added pressure from Dave and counterattacks lead by Nick and Ian, Uni fought back. Bruce and Aaron managed to deliver streaking long balls to the forwards on several occasions, but pressure from experienced opposition defenders resulted in loss of possession.
 
With time running out, Ken stepped up to attack and won a short corner. Using a rather unorthodox but nevertheless successful strategy Uni converted. Aaron received Gerard's pinpoint pass at the top of the circle and laid-off to Ken who smartly turned and pased to Dave who had a firm shot at goal. St George's keeper managed a frantic deflection off his pads and the ball went straight to an unmarked Vasu. With a flat push, the scores were leveled.
 
After the equalizer, St George were desperate to score in the dying minutes of the game but they lost structure in the process, handing Uni further opportunities to score. A shot from Sri off a well controlled cross from Malte was deflected off the keeper to hit the post and bounce out. The scoreboard remained at 1-1.
 
Special mention: Molte being new to the team adjusted quickly to the mid field play and supported the forwards well making some good runs down the middle.
 
Overall the game was intense with both teams making full use of substitutes and challenging each other with high pressure in attack and defence.
 
As a final note, the substitution strategy planned by Ken and executed well, allowed Uni to maintain pressure toward the latter stages of the game.  It is this background structure that has been categorically improving the quality of 6th grade's hockey. Players have also been turning up early due to the added incentive, allowing for vital warm up drills and practice which will no doubt further improve performance.The way things are going whoever gets to do the match report next week might have a win to report!

Best & Fairest: 3 Zuilly, 2 Molte, 1 5 way tie (Cam, Bruce, Little John, Gedi, Sri)

By: Vasu & Sri

7ths vs GNS on 31 May
Result: Win 1-0

7th Grade recorded their 7th win from their 7 games in another hard-fought match on 31st May. The matches seem to get harder each week as opponents Gordon North Sydney played well above their ladder standing and kept the game even for the majority of both halves. A single second half goal from a great individual effort by Nakul Parmar proved enough to win the game and a resounding majority for best and fairest.

The next game promises again to be the team's toughest yet as 7th grade face off against the division leaders Sutherland. Sutherland are equal on points, but lead by a massive 41 to 21 on total goals scored. Everyone in the club have wishes you all the best for making it eight from eight.

Without the distraction of hockey on the long weekend, we found time to check the tables. SUHC is not travelling too badly overall, with 5ths and 7ths doing extremely well.

The 1st are currently ninth of 12,  but they have had some good results recently. A win against UTS this week would move them to eighth. 2nds are currently eighth, and if you listen to Buzz Remo they will soon be much higher. 3rds and 4ths are both tenth of 11, but they have also had slow starts and are looking good in recent games. 5ths are second of 10, and showing great form. 6ths are coming eighth, but as their match reports show thay have some real spirit and could be a quiet mover up the tables. Finally, the valiant 7ths are coming second solely on goal differences, so there will be some more herculean struggles from them.

Onwards and upwards...to infinity and beyond

Result: Won 6-2

On Saturday 31 May the 1sts thrashed St George.  Simple as that.  Max Power started the slaughter with two pieces of backhand magic, but his opportunities came from some good team play as the ball was sent down the line through gaps in the St George armour.  At half-time it was 3-0, and so much fun that Musi didn't even want to go off for a break.

The shock of a solid half-time lead may have caused Bill to go lightly in his half-time talk.  When the team went back out their momentum quickly carried them to 5-0, but then they lost  concentration. They allowed St George to score two quick goals, and it could have been more but for some truly inspirational keeping from Kent.  Thankfully there was no panic: Scrappy steadied the ship and Hottie Heappy scored from a short corner to take it out to 6-2, which was the final score.

We are unsure of the Korean for "Suck on that!" but YSK seemed to call something to someone each time we thumped the ball into their backboards.

Great effort Uni!

Score: Lost 2:1

Another hard fought contest, this time with UTS who are currently second on the table. UTS showed a lot of skill and control and were able to hold possession, working the ball down field in a series of precision passes. This was something that was lacking at times in our attack as we were prone to throwing the 'panic ball' due to opposition pressure - something we need to work on.
     
Our defence had a lot of work to do. Cam was showing great form in goal, repeatedly keeping out the attack. Great save on the line from Aaron deflecting a chest high ball out the side. However the sustained pressure was too much  and we conceded 2 goals. Zuilly showed great form and pace and penetrated the defence a number of times. Just before the final bell he had beaten the keeper and was in the process of slotting the ball in when the ref blew a short. After some discussions on protocol, and a double reversal of decision the short was awarded - ripped off... but the whistle had been blown!

A consolation goal followed seconds later when Ken received the ball just out side the 25, drew the defence and passed a nicely weighted square ball to the top of the circle to two salivating Sydney forwards and Ian (aka Little John) found the back of the goal with seconds to spare.

A couple of players made their comeback appearance on Saturday (along with Barry Hall). Jeremy has been 'on sebatical' out in the mid Pacific for the last few months. He quickly shrugged off any cobwebs with a huge workrate in the centre and a couple of very close shots - one a great reflex save from the opposition keeper and the second glancing off the
corner post. Leif came back from several weeks of elephant husbandry in Thailand and showed great form in defence working the ball round attacking UTS players at close quarters (probably all that practice dodging elephant dung came in handy).

All in all a respectable result against a strong side, but we can do better with a little bit of extra focus and control. Let's make it a big win next week. Remember to pack extra water and rations and a full tank of fuel if you can afford it, notify SES of your travel plans and get out to Pennant Hills safely.

MM

Players given leave to pay fees late must pay those fees by this Saturday - along with anyone else who has slipped through the cracks. Your Clubmates cannot be expected to subsidise you. You will be "Unavailable" if you are not a financial member of the Club for 2008.

Result: Won 6-0

We finally pulled it off!  This win had been a long time coming, after weeks of draws and narrow losses.  It didn't start well for us though, and the Strikers had the better of the first 10-15 minutes.  Several times we let a few of their attackers get between our markers and the goal (through a combination of loose marking and over-committing in tackles), which caused trouble.  Fortunately Cam was on fire and he came up with some of his best saves of the season to keep us in the contest.  When we got the ball though we looked threatening, with quick switches to the right opening up the Strikers.  One such length-of-the-field counter-attack led to our first goal, with Gerard and Sri combining to put us on the board.  The match then steadied as we picked up their danger men in defense and built up some possession, we earned the occasional short corner, and an unsuccessful penalty stroke (not the only time the Striker goalie came up with a good save).  When Chu came on at left half the Strikers right-side attack suddenly went quiet, co-incidence I think not.
 
In the second half we got an early goal from a short, then Millsie picked up the crumbs for another, after a deflection off the goalpost.  Now that we had a break on the Strikers (3-0) their game fell apart - they relied on long predictable balls out of defense and lost their support play.  A few times they restarted the ball from the centre by just smacking it over the sideline!  Our structure held together well - halves and wingers standing nice and wide to create space; mid-fielders intercepting in mid-field and distributing wide and to forwards running into space (special mention to Nick, who worked hard and had a great game at centre half); Sri and Vasu as usual in the right place at the right time in the D; and Ken, who was the standout, being a focal point in attack, a multiple goal-scorer, and earning the B&F vote of almost half the team.  A great team effort!

Goals: Sri 2, Ken2, Millsie 1,  Vasu 1
B&F: Ken 3, Sri 2, Cam and Dave 0.5 each
DW

Result 1:0

We all knew it would be a tough game with Ryde 2nd on the table and undefeated this year, having beaten us 3-1 in the first round. Taking their inspiration from 1st and 2nd grades' wins last week and 5th grade's dominance over Ryde at home in the curtain raiser, though, the 6ths went out with a positive attitude and took it up to the opposition.

Around the middle of the 1st half we were rewarded with a goal set up by Ken and coolly finished off by Cristoph. This gave us a psychological edge and everyone could smell a victory. Ryde racked up the pressure, but everyone dug into their reserves and fought hard for every ball. This made all the difference at the end of the day with a final 1-0 result.

A great effort, with the beers on Bruce, who is now a fully certfied Aussie. If we keep this up we could be finals contenders.  Some highlights: included Nick running his lungs out in the centre, some match saving defence by Cam, a miraculous save on the line from Elias and some great scoring opportunities, which were unfortunately not capitalised on - some work to do at training on that front for us forwards.

B&F: Dave 3, Cam 2, Nick, Chewey, Christoph shared 1 point

Result: 4-1 win

At 8pm on a cold Saturday night, 6th grade geared up to play Manly, a team that had beaten us 5-1 in the first round. With the roar of the crowd from the Swans vs Collingwood game at ANZ stadium filling the air, the game was away! Manly started off strongly, with skilfull play from the centre forward who led the attack. Early in the piece, one of Manly's shots on goal was brilliantly deflected from the top of the net by Bruce. Unluckily for us, the referee awarded Manly a stroke, which they promptly converted, putting us 0-1 down in the first 10 minutes.

Both teams had their fair share of chances at the goal but we were able to strike back next. Starting things off with a great tackle in the midfield, Nick then followed the play into the circle where he slotted one home, levelling the score at 1-1. Soon after, a Sydney Uni short corner had Steve hammer the ball towards the post, which was deflected into the goal by Sri. The score at half-time was 2-1.

Not surprisingly, Manly came out fired up in the second half. The skilled Manly forward dodged and weaved his way into the circle several times, only to be stopped by Bruce, Aaron and a diving Cam. Through some well executed passing, we were able to build up a few good attacks, culminating in Steve blasting one in. With the wind taken out of the Manly sails, Ian put in another goal that sealed the victory 4-1.

Best and fairest: Nick 3, Sri 2, 1 point shared between Ian, Steve and Bruce.

CKL

Fashion houses are notoriously unreliable on these things, but Andy Elton has been assured the club's hoodies will be available some time next week. That means there is just one more weekend to go where most of us look like just any old hockey player. (Comments about Mens Premier Squad deleted - Ed).

Andy will be in contact with people as soon as he has more details.