Round seven action of the 2024 East Gippsland Hockey Association season last Saturday saw Orbost welcome Nagle to its Recreation Reserve home.
One of the highlights of the day was a thrilling one-goal win by the Green and Gold’s under 14s side.
The under 14s encounter was a tense affair between two evenly-matched teams, and one with few clearcut scoring opportunities in the first half thanks to the ability of both sides to deliver a decisive tackle when it was needed most.
A big run forward by Chloe Findley resulted in a near miss from Ava Martin at one end, while a crucial clearance under real pressure by Peter Florance at the other helped to keep the game scoreless at the main break.
An epic Jasper Anderson charge into the ‘D’ created a near post chance for Geoffrey Florance early in the second term, which was closely followed by Kayley Robinson’s shot being saved and an Alex Kenny effort somehow being denied after a dramatic goal-mouth scramble.
Orbost really had the bit between its teeth at this stage and looked destined to score, but Nagle certainly had its productive moments in attack too, only to be repelled by the Green and Gold backline, led effectively by sisters Leni and Kitty Millward.
Eventually another powerful drive in on goal and a third effort at pushing the ball past the visitors’ keeper by Anderson delivered the well-deserved breakthrough for the hosts, but their opponents almost equalised immediately from the restart, only to be turned away by a crunching goal-saving tackle from Mia Martin.
After another dynamic Findley run and well-saved shot was unable to ice the contest, Nagle had one last chance to pull level, but it was Orbost goalie Sarah Gladstone who was the first to react to a dangerous bouncing ball when she deftly diverted it past her post to dramatically preserve the victory and all four competition points for her side.
Final score: Orbost 1 d Nagle 0.
The day’s proceedings began with the under 10s and under 12s teams in simultaneous action, with the Green and Gold’s youngest brigade of players fighting out a scoreless draw against their opponents.
In a tight contest Joe Millward played a sterling role in defence throughout, denying more than one Nagle goal with his stick, while Darius Mathews, Asha Farley and Harper Morgan were in the thick of the tackling and passing action across the centre of the ground.
Despite the best efforts of Isobel Lawless and Savannah Lindfield up front, Orbost could not find a way through the visitors’ defence at the crucial moment, with the draw a fair result.
Final score: Orbost 0 dw Nagle 0.
The under 12s match-up was a more fluent affair, particularly with Malky Morrison active around every contest and showing plenty of attacking persistence and Kitty Millward propelling the ball forward at every opportunity with her strong rebound work.
Jacob Rutherford’s tackling at the back and some impressive defensive pressure from Cohen Mathews helped to restrict a strong Nagle side to just a single goal in the first half, with an Alex Kenny burst followed by consecutive shots from Lily Crofts and Monty Redman representing the Green and Gold’s best opportunity of the opening term.
A Geoffrey Florance run and shot after halftime nearly led to Orbost’s equaliser before its opponents went on to secure the win after a flurry of late goals, creating a final scoreline that didn’t really reflect the evenness of the majority of the game.
Final score: Orbost 0 lt Nagle 5.
IMAGE: Orbost’s Alex Kenny chases down the ball during the Green and Gold under 14s sides’ one-goal victory against Nagle at the Orbost Recreation Reserve last weekend.
