Clouded minds... frustrated souls, after a devastating loss at the hands of a rampant Bankstown one week earlier, the SUHC 1st grade boys spent the last week wondering Why? How? Which? What? And Where?

Come forward to Saturday morning 24th July 2010, shivers deep in the spines of every player, one eyelid opens releasing a gaze into a gloriously sunny Winter's day, the second follows. Goosebumps coursed the body as they take those first steps down the hall towards their preparation for the day ahead. Breakfast for most was a bowl of cereal, muesli being the preference, some added yogurt; a natural lubricant to clear the throat, the OJ had gone off in my fridge, so I had a coffee.

We gathered together at Pennant Hills Park a few hours later, a spring in the step, a glint in the eye, the banter was fresh and witty...standard. We felt ready.

Our opposition: North West Strikers. 2nd in the league, therefore a very worthy opponent.

The game started warily with both teams looking to take the advantage, but both defences wouldn't slip. A frenetic pace didn't take away the standard of play, as each team made their traps, completed their passes and executed their leads with precision and purpose. Finally the dead lock was broken, a fluky baseline attempt on goal managed to go in for Strikers. This only made SU more determined and they made Strikers pay with a return of fire minutes later off the stick of young gun Brendan "Look out Des Abbot!!" O'Connor. A brilliant passage of play from SU down the right hand side lead to a classy tap in by SU's youngest warrior. As the 1st half went on Strikers managed to stumble across the SU goal line once again, not even they knew how they ended up with that one. SUHC kept their heads, but the first half ended 3-1 after a dubious decision and skeptical passage of play lead to a third goal for Strikers from a short.

SUHC went into the half time break frustrated, but at the same time, that same feeling, that strange sensation deep in each and every player lingered. Ww weren't going to finish this without a fight.

We went hard into the second half, focused. And as the game went on SU slowly started to make its come back. As if a message was sent from above, SUHC was not going to lose this match. Brendon got his double after probably some of the greatest lead up play from SU all year and a shot from Dan "Stop it" Paech needed to be cleaned up by the young master. We grabbed a short corner and a brilliantly executed modification to our set play was delivered hard against the backboard from SU's own Waratah Thomas Daniel "Sticky" Lobsey.

It was 3-3; we had brought ourselves back into contention through clever build up play, patience and execution in the circle. The battle was still toughly contested and went from end to end, the players, the refs, the coaches, and the crowd all on edge. An then the moment of truth, 5min left in the game, SU take the lead 4-3 "Zing", again a masterful passage of play, this time down the left hand side and Peter "I'm not that cricketing legend, I'm better than him" Slater on the end of another brilliant tap in!!

We fought hard to keep out the frustrated NW Strikers, and in the end we won. And therefore they heard BOTH our team songs, because we left the door open.

The Boys gathered later that evening to reflect and revel in their arts reclining, reveling in their victory, proud to be wearing the Blue and Gold....Hours passed and it was time for the SU boys to lay down and rest, one eyelid closing in, tired and fulfilled, the second just remained open, a few seconds more, that one eye peering out on the world, making the most of those last gazing moments of the day where the 1st grade boys got up and got up well...

UP THE STUDENTS!!!!

SUHC 4 defeated NW Strikers 3
24th July 2010, 3.30pm at Pennant Hills

SL

Just over a month of the season left, and already there are those little doubts. What will happen to your mates, your weight, your social life and your chat in the off-season? 

Not a worry at all. Lize has the answer..play indoor hockey with SUHC! The season starts soon and we have teams that cater for everyone, including:

Sydney Lions - Men's Premier
Sydney Lionesses - Women's Premier
Sydney Tigers - Men's A
Sydney Tigresses - Women's A
Sydney Ligers - Men's B
Sydney Mixed Cats - Mixed

Most competitions go from September through to early December, with some next year as well. They are all played at various indoor centres throughout Sydney. Coopers remains open for business, too

Contact Eliza Grant (e.grant@sport.usyd.edu.au) by Friday 27th August to be sure of a spot. 

Abstract:
The game was dominated completely by Sydney University for the entire match.

Introduction
Two clubs, fighting for a top four position. Club A: Sydney University, requiring 8 wins out of the final 8 games to keep a healthy dream of a finals birth. Club B: North Ryde, requiring 6 out of the final 8 games to keep a healthy dream of a finals birth.  Club A: 0 losses in 6 matches. Club B: 0 losses in 4 matches. A loss to either team would be heart breaking and a draw would amount to nothing.

Methods:
Club A hosted the game against Club B.
Both Club A and Club B provided a minimum of 7 players.
2 Umpires who are highly skilled and qualified controlled the experiment.
2 ball boys will maintain the speed of the experiment for consistency and quality assurance purposes.
A hockey game was played.

Result: 
Sydney University drew 3-3 with Ryde on 10 July 201

Discussion:
Club A showed its dominance on the pitch throughout the majority of the first half, and after a number of short corners and solid passages of possession, were unable to convert their good work into goals on the scoreboard. During the times Club B had the ball, the majority of the plays were spent passing the ball between the side lines and on the very odd occasion making advancements forward. Despite their impotence to progress in a forwardly fashion, Club B were able to find the back board and take the lead through some desperate and fumbled play (an in comprehendible finding ). Soon after, and right on half time, a Club B short corner drag flick doubled their goal tally for the game and helped them take a healthy lead (Another anomaly) .

Club A are no strangers to a comeback and set out to play an unrelenting style of hockey in the second half and take the strong hold back on the game. It took 15min for Club A to find the back of the net through a well constructed field goal. Following the goal, the growth in confidence for Club B was soon stalled, after another Club B short corner conversion put the visitors ahead again by 2. Club A once more found the strength to battle it out,  and through a strong base line play found a ferreting forward, whom found the back board after some tidy passing around the keeper. For the remainder of the game, Club B defence held strong and defended a barrage of attacking advancements and were able to keep the Club A out, right up to the final second. Club A then scored and drew the match.  It was a frantic last 15 seconds, as the ball was flung from both sides of the field, leaving Club A powerless to take a quick free hit, however eventually a clever overhead by specimen 10 (SP10)  found a number of lingering forwards, who took the most of this opportunity and after some swift passes, found the back of the goal - bypassing the keeper in the middle of the circle. 

As one Club A rejoiced whilst Club B relapsed

Conclusion
An exciting end to a disappointing result for both teams. Club A couldn't help fell delighted by the result due to the final second come back, but were also disappointed after having so much strong possession. Club B, not sure how they felt...

Acknowledgements

I like to take this opportunity to thank the ball boys and umpires, without you there would be no game (okay there probably would be a game without the ball boys, but we would wouldn't have drawn the game because it would have ran out of time after chasing balls over the park, you kids did awesome!). Also, to all the fans who packed the stands for a mighty club day. An incredible atmosphere was created and the banter was of the highest quality (not including Ryde Banter - which was obviously poor... no brains left after head butting too many people).

References
Lobs, T.D., 2010: What I could remember of 70 mins of hockey. My Brain Journal 5, pp 1-2.

TL

All of our teams have now passed the half way point of the 2010 Season and things are looking good for SUHC through all of the grades.  Remember we are one of only three Clubs with 8 Men's teams competing in the SHA Competition, and it is a testament to our strength this year - and some coaching direction from Aaron Oman - that we are competitive across all grades.

Firstly a big congratulations to 1st Grade who are currently on a roll, unbeaten in 6 games straight, with a major highlight being the 4-1 drubbing of local rivals Glebe a week ago.  This has been a fantastic effort by not only the players, but the coaching team of Moylo and Duck for their hard work, persistence and attitude.  1's currently sit at 7th on the ladder only a few points behind Ryde who we play this saturday.

Premier Division 2 is proving to be one of the closest competitions in SHA this Season, with only 6 points separating 3rd and 8th place.  SUHC 2's are still in the running for a finals berth this year, mainly thanks to Nicholas Brown finally discovering what the funny thing with 2 white posts and a green net is actually for after 6 years with the Club.  Brownie has become the man to beat for top scorer this season.  Keep up the good work 2's and hope we can see you making it into the top 4.

Our 3's and 4's have once again been the form teams in SUHC this year, with both currently in finals contention; 3's sitting in 3rd place, and 4's topping the table with only one defeat this year.  Gilby and Joey Cooper have both led by example in a youthful looking 3rd grade (despite the best efforts of a certain B Gunner to bring down the average age & increase the average size & decibel level).  The average age of 4th grade has remained pretty consistent as has their record in Div 1:2, with Mark Flack leading the team to the top of the table with the goal of defending their premiership well within their sights.  We wish both teams the best of luck for the rest of the season.

5th and 6th Grade have had mixed fortunes this year following the promotion to Division 2.  It has been a tough ride, given that they have been up against other clubs 3rd and 4th grades, with a fair few stacked teams with double downs from P2. None the less a revitalized 5th grade managed to defeat a strong Ryde side 4-3 last week, with Captain Brett Radcliffe donning the pads for the first time and saving a stroke!!  6's have been more consistent and are sitting in 5th, with a finals berth well within their reach.  This has certainly been helped by the inform full back duo of Lloyd Setter and Will Hays (the best thing to come out of Wodonga since the Hume Highway).

After a competition revamp, 7's and 8's are again both pushing for further premiership honors, under the careful guidance of Ratty and Marcus.  Despite depleted numbers through injury (due to Alec Wettenhall's insistence on trying to play Ice Hockey each year) they have pulled through, with 8th grade rightfully topping the Div 4:2 table this week.

In the past month, several members of the Men's club have been involved in representative hockey across NSW.  Tom Lobsey has been one of the go to players for the NSW Warratas in their 2010 AHL Campaign and has also recently been offered a contract with a top Hockey Club in the Belgium Premier League.  The Club wishes Tom every success for the remainder of the AHL campaign and for his overseas transfer at the end of the year.

Former Men's VP & the most famous Red Head in Southern Australia (pre Gillard) Kent Haigh has been lining up in goals for the Southern Hotshots & is due to face off against Tom in the next round up in Brisbane. 

In the recent SHA State Championships, SUHC featured heavily with Scrappy, Phil Kratzer, Chris Rawlins, Matt Tozi and Scott Laird all taking part.

SUHC has once again had a number of Veterans playing at representative level in NSW this year: including Tugga, Phil Price, Ramon Rodrigues, Mick Irby, Brian Fitzpatrick, Paul Barrett, Crichton Smith, Paul John, Cameron Whittaker, Damian Chown and Rowan McDonald. Peter ("Errol") Pether and Tony Selmes were also rumoured sightings.

On the social side we have also had a strong year with one of the largest Pub Crawls in history through the streets of Newtown.  It has been great to see all the new faces getting involved with the club both on and off the field.  Special mention must go to Roderick "A ROD" Bohlaar who is only with SUHC for half a season but has put in a huge effort playing outstanding hockey for 4th and 5th grade and dominating the social scene.  We are sorry to see you go A Rod, and hope that you can come back to SUHC again in the future.

Club Captain Andy Elton is also dipping into his vast pockets for a Club Captain's Keg after a clean sweep of results a few weeks ago, so watch this space for a location.

I thank everyone again for their efforts for the club so far this year.  Andy, the SUHC Committee and I wish every team the best of luck for the remainder of the campaign.

Best Regards

Rob Verdon

_{Editor's note: almost no editing required... a first for many years.}

1sts beat Glebe 4-1 on 26 June

It was more than a game: it was a mid table battle for inner-west supremacy. SU had not lost a game for 5 weeks, and were odds on favourites against an out of form Glebe, but we did not underestimate the task.

First Half

The game started slowly as both sides struggled to maintain possession and build dominance. Glebe played an unconventional structure and found some very valuable space in the middle of the park, opening up the SU midfield numerous times.  However, after some sloppy Glebe defence the SU forward line were able to take full advantage and took an early lead, as Pete Slater slotted in the first goal.  Persistence and the ability to contain our frustration again paid off for the blue and gold, and after some linking plays we were rewarded with a penalty corner which was converted by Rhys Gray after a fancy variation.

Second Half

The second half started slowly and after some pressure on our defence Glebe scored their first and only goal for the match. SU were quick to reply, with a goal within 5 minutes (I did that), and it helped SU keep a stronghold on the game. Some 10 minutes later Pete Slater improved his chances of topping the highest goal scorer of the year after converting his second for the game after some well structured counter attacking play.

Either half (can't remember) or both halves:

Pete Slater missed an open goal, Pat Haydon smiled, Scrappy won his first game against Glebe, the Dutch guy was heaps lazy, Andy tackled the opposition a number of times, Dougal got frustrated then yelled a lot, I ate a cookie, Laird Arse ran heaps quick, Ryan Betts played well, Phillip Kratzer the German failed to understand why you would try and score more goals with 2 min to go when you are winning (so German) and Aaron Oman received high volume but low quality abuse from his former club.

TL

2nds beat St George 9-0 on 19 June 2010

Not content with scoring four goals against St George in front of his prospective in-laws earlier in the year, Brownie has done it again. This time it was in front of his own parents.

Wanting to build on some excellent results from before the long weekend, 2nd grade went into the St George clash with a plan to shut them out of the game completely. A steady stream of goals in the first half achieved this and left Saints completely demoralised. With a 5-0 score line at half time, the only danger for Sydney Uni was that we might take things easy and let the game degenerate into a shambles.

Fortunately this didn't happen. The boys stuck to the structure and continued to put the ball in the back of the net. The goals all resulted from fantastic lead up passing and base line work in the circle, apart from Phil Gray's short corner (which was the softest successful short corner flick since goalies stopped wearing cricket pads) and a thunderous short corner goal from Tugga (editor's rights).

Brownie, Henry and Gilbey split the best and fairest points deservedly, however, it was a terrific team performance and the first time in a long time that 2nd grade has gone and demolished a team they were dominating. 

Tugga

1st grade drew 2-2 with Briars on 5 June

After belting GNS 7-3 the week before, spirits were high leading into Saturday's clash with 3rd placed Briars. Coaches and players were looking forward finally to having our full strength side on the same pitch, at the same time in the same game. But, as has been the case all year, our unbelievable run of bad luck, injuries and illness kept right on. A Tour de France type accident saw Paul's grip on the players' player yellow jersey slip after he was forced to the sidelines for around 4 weeks. Stijn was ruled out of the game with suspected `Dutch Kanker Influenza'...we were going to be short on the bench yet again. It was so desperate that Duck was even looking to kit up in the second half.

All of this drama aside, we turned up eager to play well against our higher-ranked rivals. We expected a fiery, physical encounter, and were right. Rhys was keen to impress against his old club, and everyone else wanted to do a club legend proud. Unfortunately the score line in the first half didn't reflect our desire to win. It was an arm-wrestle early on with both teams having even amounts of possession, but a lucky deflection from a long corner gifted Briars the lead around twenty minutes in. We then suffered another injury when Pat `Mount Achillesmanjaro' Hayden left the field midway through the first half. We missed several chances to open our scoring account, including one that missed the post by millimetres. Briars then found themselves two goals up when a dubious short corner decision from outside the circle was converted. We continued to create chances but the half finished 2-0 to Briars.

We started the second half much like the first, with some solid and patient build-up work but without any magic in front of goal. Our defence, however, was more solid this half, with Cam pulling of some fine saves along the back line and some great scrambling defence from everybody. Finally our hard work was rewarded with a goal. A passage that started from a sixteen went from the left side of the field, to the right side, back to the left and then right where Tom had an easy tap in. It was champagne hockey with nearly everybody touching the ball in the build up.

We continued to keep Briars at bay. We had a number of shots, but they kept missing by centimetres. It was nail-biting stuff with the crowd on the edge of their seats. As has been the way all season, we fought hard till the end, with all the SAS fitness training from drill sergeant Scrappy paying off. A Lobsey connection saw Tom pick up Sam for a deflection with around eight minutes to go. Game on!

Despite having all the momentum in the last ten minutes we were simply unable to convert our opportunities. With three minutes left Rhys momentarily forgot what colour shirt he had on. The referee helped to remind him by giving Briars a short corner. We held firm and a blocked shot gave us one last opportunity but tired legs denied us a late victory. The drama didn't finish there. With twenty-six seconds left another equally contentious decision was made against us, leading ultimately to Phillip getting a yellow card for outlining the correct rules in his best Kaiser's German, to Scrappy having a green card, for being there, and to Briars having a final shot at victory while we had nine players on the field. Some extraordinary dexterity and guts ensured we held Briars out yet again and earned a much deserved point.

It was a tremendous effort by everyone considering we had one sub for most of the match playing against the side in third position. A big thanks to Bruce Pryor for his presence and good banter!

Dags `K2'

SHA will adopt some Experimental rules from Saturday 30th May for PL1 and PL2 games ONLY. Those games have technical officers who will be in a position to control the 2 minute penalty. Yes, we know, half way through the season, done without any warning or consultation etc. that's life in 2010... 

Below is the wording for the rules. Please make sure you understand them. 

14.1. Green Card - Two Minute Suspension
For any offence, the offending player may be warned (indicated by a green card).
* Where a green card is issued the offending player shall be temporarily suspended for two (2) minutes.
* During the period of temporary suspension of a player, the team shall play with one less player.
* The umpire shall immediately restart the game after the issue of the green card.
* The offending player must leave the field immediately. If the player interferes with play on the way to the technical table area the umpire will further penalise the player under the normal conduct of play provisions.
* The two minute temporary suspension shall commence when the player is seated at the technical table area.
* The timing of the suspension shall be controlled by the technical officials on duty at the technical table.

14.2. Breaking at Penalty Corner
* Until the ball has been played, no attacker other than the one taking the push or hit from the back-line is permitted to enter the circle and no defender is permitted to cross the centre-line or back-line.
* For any offence of this rule by a defender, the offending player(s) shall be required to go beyond the centre-line and cannot be replaced by another defender.
* For an offence of this rule by an attacker who enters the circle before the ball is played, the offending player(s) shall be required to go beyond the centre line.
* The player who pushes or hits the ball from the back-line must not feint at playing the ball.

Do you still have it in you? Of course!  Check the Veterans page where we have hidden away the info you need on how to nominate for the State Championships on 23-25 July.

The training schedule for the men's teams at SUHC for 2010 is as follows:

Monday: 
5th & 6th Grade 8:30pm-9:30pm at Concord
7th & 8th Grade 8:30pm-9:30pm at Concord

Tuesday: 
Premier Squad 9:00pm-10:30pm at Concord
3rd & 4th Grade 9:30pm-10:30pm at Concord

Wednesday:
EAP Session* 9:30pm-10:30pm at Concord (*attendees to be invited separately)
Lower Grade Skills** 9:30pm -10:30pm at Concord (**commencing when the season starts:  VP Rob will confirm dates).

Thursday: 
Premier Squad 9:00pm-10:30pm at Concord
Club Fitness 7pm meet at The Square, Sydney Uni

Please contact your VP Rob or Captain Andy Andy if you have any questions.

Welcome to Sydney Uni Hockey Club, and thank you for your interest in joining our great club. We are delighted to welcome new players. SUHC enters 8 teams in Sydney's Men's Hockey Competition, so we provide the chance to play hockey across all levels, ranging from our highly competitive Premier Grades through to a more social competition.

This year we'll be holding our trials for Men's 3rd-8th grade on March 6th at 9am-1pm at Cintra (see our Links page if you do not know where it is).  We encourage you to come out to trials to be considered for a team in 2010. In addition, trainings will be commencing in the week of Feb 15th. Games through the year are almost all played on Saturday afternoon and evenings at venues across Sydney.

Joining SUHC is a great move. In addition to our serious sporting endeavours we have a fantastic social side, with numerous events and gatherings throughout the year. SUHC has a men's, women's, vetertans and juniors section, so we are one of Sydney University's largest sporting clubs as well as being one of Sydney's largest hockey clubs.

Registration Day is Saturday 27 February from 9:30am to 2:30pm. It is held at HK Ward Gymnasium at Sydney Uni. We encourage you register by this date if you are interested in playing: fees rise for later registrations. If you would like further information, please contact our Men's VP - Rob Verdon at menshockey@suhc.asn.au.