Orbost Hockey Club welcomed local rivals Mitchell River to its Orbost Recreation Reserve home for round four of the 2026 East Gippsland Hockey Association season this last Saturday, across a day bathed in autumn sunshine.
The Green and Gold contested five absorbing and close contests, emerging in the process with a pair of hard-fought victories.
The most impressive performance came from Orbost’s under-16s side, who took on a powerful Mitchell River outfit. Despite conceding the first two goals of the game, they bravely turned the contest on its head in the final quarter to score three times, storming home for a memorable win (4-2).
Despite goalie Jack Scott employing his big boots to good effect and defender Leni Millward making a pair of key clearances, the visitors were in the ascendant in the first half and opened up a two-goal margin, only for the Green and Gold to hit back in style just before the main break.
Sarah Gladstone made a strong open-field tackle in the backline and immediately fired a long pass onto the stick of Jasper Anderson, who made no mistake in firing into the back of the cage from distance.
A pair of fine Scott saves, a vital intervention on the post by Mia Martin, and a series of battling tackles in her own ‘D’ by Kitty Millward kept Mitchell River at bay in the third quarter, and as the final stanza began, it was clear that it was the Orbost team that had the greater energy and enterprise among them.
With Chloe Findley and Keira Irvine driving hard through the centre, the Green and Gold’s attacking chances steadily increased, and after debutant Owen Fisher went oh-so close to scoring on the back post, Anderson found the equaliser for his side courtesy of a goalmouth scramble after a corner.
The hosts were in no mood to settle for a draw, however, and it was Campbell Edlington who secured the win in fine style, firstly driving through the heart of the away defence before emphatically blasting the ball past the keeper, followed moments later by converting a swift combination counterattack with Anderson to score Orbost’s decisive fourth goal.
The prior encounter saw Orbost’s under-14s team maintain their perfect start to the season with a victory in the highest-scoring fixture of the day, one in which they nevertheless had to work hard to keep their unbeaten record intact.
With Alex Kenny leading the backline with authority, Joe Millward tackling hard in defence, and goalie Jacob Rutherford clearing effectively, Orbost was able to turn away all but one of the visitors’ attacks in the first half, and thanks to a trio of rampaging runs and successful shots from Jasper Anderson, found itself up 3-1 at the main break.
Mitchell River fought back with its best period of play for the match to close to 3-2, but with the trio of Teddy Kuyper, Asha Farley and Kitty Millward all seeing plenty of the ball up front, the hosts were able to keep up their attacking pressure, resulting in a pair of short-range finishes from Anderson to restore the three-goal margin.
The game’s final few minutes saw four more goals scored, two by each side to take the match total to 11 (7-4), with the Green and Gold ensuring that all of the available competition points remained firmly in their possession.
The day’s action began bright and early with the under-10s match-up, a game which saw plenty of attacking endeavour from both sides, and plenty of goals to go with it too.
Some determined tackling from Zoe Griebenow, and a couple of brave saves from Evie Crofts were early highlights for the Green and Gold, as was the way in which Alastair Songailo pursued the ball around the ground.
A powerful run forward by Sadie Lindfield and a big drive on goal by Grace Reddy presented Orbost’s best chances to score in the first half, one in which their opponents established a two-goal lead.
As the game wore on, Matilda Kuyper became ever more influential with her ball control and willingness to run at defenders, and with Frida Songailo working hard to support her efforts in midfield, it was a pair of precise Kuyper shots from distance that added some well-deserved respectability to the final scoreline (2-4).
The under-12s contest was another absorbing affair, and another game in which the hosts clawed their way back from an early two-goal deficit, only to miss out on securing any competition points in the cruellest manner possible.
Izzy Palmer’s confident sweeping of the ball out of defence, plus a crucial intervention in her own ‘D’ by Neave Songailo, helped to prevent Mitchell River from opening up an overwhelming lead in the early stages, while an opportunity at the opposite end of the ground for Joe Millward represented his team’s best chance in the first half.
Trailing 2-0 at the main break, the Green and Gold hit the scoreboard with an excellent end-to-end move when Millward made a big clearance upfield, Teddy Kuyper and Belle Healey combined to drive the ball into a dangerous area, and ultimately, debutant Tilyahna Janbakhsh placed herself perfectly on the back post for the tap-in goal.
As the clock ticked down, Kuyper then capped a fine individual performance with a run through the defence before threading the ball into the bottom corner to equalise, but unfortunately for the home side, it was their opponents who struck the winner.
Despite Savannah Lindfield’s initial clearance and goalie Darius Mathews’ reflex save, Mitchell River pounced on the loose ball to score with quite literally the last touch of the match, to win 3-2.
Orbost’s women’s team were involved in a tense, low-scoring battle at the end of the day’s play, one in which it was their opponents who came away with the only goal of the game in the final stages.
The pace and pressure of both Phoebe Findley and Misty Anderson allowed the Green and Gold to keep the contest on an even keel between the ‘Ds’, with Kerryn Volk’s strong clearance work and Jaime Haas applying plenty of pressure on the wing, making life difficult for Mitchell River.
Sammi Reynolds had a shot into the side of the cage after some great attacking endeavour from Aster Anderson and Chloe Findley, before goalie Sarah Gladstone made a fine save at full-stretch to keep the proceedings goalless through three quarters.
Despite the best efforts of Gladstone and Leni Millward on the last line of defence, the visitors scrambled a late goal, forcing Orbost to throw everything into attack in search of an equaliser.
Volk and Casey Findley almost combined for success on one corner before a powerful strike from another by Bree Kenny forced a key save, while Georgia Anderson had one last opportunity to convert a cross, which unfortunately was not realised, allowing the visitors to hang on desperately for the win.
Orbost will host Maffra this week.
