Juniors jump at chance to impress

By Lee Manning

May 8, 2023

On the run: Angus outruns Echuca for U14s Black, with Cael in support.

Benalla’s juniors braved a wet start on Saturday for all teams to improve their games using the new Hockey 5s side boards.

Under-10s (combined with Euroa) vs Mooroopna:

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Teddy and Abbie Thannhauser and Finn Thompson’s experience was a great asset to the new Euroa U10s team, with their teammates all playing their first game of hockey ever. Teddy defended well, Abbie made the play down the wing, and Finn scored two goals.

Under-12s vs GVGS:

Captain Finn made an impressive debut as goalie, stopping at least 10 goals. Brodie and Jack teamed well as forwards, with Jack scoring off some impressive hits through to the back board.

Serenity made good use of the corner boards, scoring with a sneaky pass in behind the goalie. The whole team improved their use of deflecting off the side boards, especially Steele hitting out from the back line and Abbie along the wing. After dominating the first half, Benalla lost by just one goal, 6:7.

Goals to Brodie Rawlings: 1, Jack Chittick :4, Serenity Donohue: 1.

Solid work: Under-10s Teddy forces Mooroopna away from goals.

Coaches award to Serenity.

Under-14 Orange vs Mooroopna:

Orange held the experienced Mooroopna well, with Xavier halting most of their relentless attacks at the quarter line, assisted by Sophie.

Goalie Annie saved over eight goals. Captain Erin channelled well, with Kobe using his speed to push down the field. Luci worked the corner well, with a casual goal deflecting off the back of the keepers kickers. Goals to Luci Hurd: 1.

Coaches award to Xavier Kramer.

Player of the day: Xavier’s solid defence forced many turnovers for U14s Orange, earning him the coaches award.

Under-14 Black vs Echuca:

Benalla Black started their season off well, learning tactics on the use of the boards from watching previous games. They held the strong Echuca side for the first quarter, with Angus Hayes thumping in two early goals.

Cael and Lochie Johnson teamed well through the midfield, with captain Lockie scoring his first goal ever. Alida Ferguson positioned well on the wing with some good turnovers. When Echuca ramped up, so did Benalla’s defence, with full back Amity Hurd stopping most runs into goal.

First-time goalie Alexander Orlov worked hard, at one time deflecting 4 goals in a row before one snuck past. Goals to Angus: 3, Lochie: 1.

Coaches award to Alexander.

Under-17 (combined with Mooroopna) vs Strikers:

Benalla’s Amber Armstrong maintained her rock-solid defence against Strikers, often opposing fellow Benalla student Jacinta Woodward from Strikers on the wing.