Round nine action of the 2024 East Gippsland Hockey Association season last Saturday saw Orbost travel to the WORLD facility in Bairnsdale to take on its opponents Swan Reach.
Orbost’s under 10s began the day’s proceedings with a strong team performance that allowed them to seize the advantage in a free-flowing contest before converting it into a strong win.
In the first half Savannah Lindfield’s passing and running through the middle caused plenty of headaches for the hosts’ defence, with the solid rebound work of Darius Mathews also helping to keep the ball moving forward for the Green and Gold.
The visitors’ best chance in the opening term came when a precise pass from Harper Morgan put Lara Kenny through on goal only for her shot to be well-saved, but Orbost was eventually able to grab the lead just after the main break thanks to a big drive forward followed by a defence-beating strike from Cohen Mathews.
Swan Reach was always dangerous on the counterattack, but with Sophie Scott and Asha Farley contesting hard and Joe Millward clearing no less than three certain goals to safety from his own line, the Orbost defence held firm when required.
As the minutes ticked down the game looked like it would produce another score, and it was the visitors’ youngsters who made sure it went onto their tally when they produced their best move of the match, an end-to-end breakaway that finished when the perfectly placed Isobel Lawless converted an accurate cross, cementing the win.
Final score: Swan Reach 0 lt Orbost 2.
At the same time as their club mates were working their way towards victory on one half of the pitch, six under 12s players were representing the Green and Gold on the other half in a fast-paced and entertaining match.
It was Alex Kenny who struck first for the visitors when he clinically drove home a Kitty Millward pass, and after Millward combined with Jacob Rutherford to deny a strong Swan Reach chance at the opposite end, Lily Crofts got on the end of a quick team break led by Geoffrey Florance to put Orbost two goals up at half time.
The goal-scoring opportunities continued to be generated thick and fast in the second term, but Orbost’s ability to intercept more passes than its opponents kept the momentum in its favour.
Monty Redman had a busy and productive match up front, and it was her contributions that helped to put both Millward and Kenny through on goal to respectively register their second goals of the game.
Swan Reach was able to claw a score of its own back, but there was still time for Millward to cap a fine personal performance with one last powerful run and shot to complete both her own hat-trick and her team’s convincing victory.
Final score: Swan Reach 1 lt Orbost 5. Orbost Hockey Club will next be back in action this Saturday when it hosts Sale at its Recreation Reserve home.
IMAGE: Orbost Hockey Club’s Alex Kenny races down the wing to beat his under 12s opponent to the ball during his side’s match against Swan Reach at Bairnsdale’s WORLD facility last Saturday. (PS)
