Hi All,
Lots happening at the moment and all MLC teams are doing very well.
We get this weekend off with NO games and a well earned break.
Back to business the following week with some big games coming up.
State League Div 1 and Div 3 men all in the four and Senior girls clear on top.
Putting some early season bad luck with the Red Shirt list behind us we now are getting players back and our Senior numbers are excellent at present.
Team Report
I would like to report on our Under 13 Junior Boys Team this week.
I have watched these kids play 4 games so far this year and the improvement is quite amazing. This group has just made the transition from modified lacrosse to full gear which can be a little daunting at the beginning.
The first couple of times I watched they were a bit tentative but now they are revelling. 2 wins in a row has really instilled confidence and last Saturday they had a great game as a team and I witnessed some fantastic ball movement down field resulting in some brilliant goals. This is a credit to the Players, Coaches and Parents who have supported them from day 1.
Keep up the good work as this team grows bigger and more confident.
Trivia
Trivia Night was a lot of fun and well attended by Parents and Supporters as well as a host of Senior and Junior players.
Great job by Lauren, Zac and all of the other people who worked hard to make it a great Night.
Past Players Day
Past Players and Friends of Malvern is coming up on 20th June and it will be an all day event at the Town Hall starting at 9.00 am.
I would once again ask all members to spread the word about this day and make it a big one.
Sticks For Sale
We have received an order of “ Maverick Charger Complete “ sticks and they are available for $45 each.
These are a better than average entry level kit and come with a ball as well.
Lacrosse gear is Only available via Online US dealers at present so MLC can now offer the sale of these items. Get in quick as they won’t last.
Club Spring Clean
This coming Monday 8th June we are having a bit of a spring clean of the clubrooms.
If any of our members could help it will be for a couple of hours between 12.00 and 2.00pm.
I know it is a long weekend but surely not everyone will be away.
That’s it for me this week and “Go the Red and Black”.
Regards to all Gus.
Match Reports
State League
Caulfield at Town Hall..Win 12 to 5
We got the win which is great and after only 12 goals this might sound silly but it was the best game I’ve seen this year from our attack especially the first half, the way we ran our patterns was terrific and we opened them up to score some top class goals that would have scored on any team. Our attack patterns are still a work in progress and every player needs to be able to play any position which is a high skill high work rate offence, but it looked great in parts and seemed like its starting to come together.
Top that off with a man up that threw 3 of 5 and its all positive.
Our Defence is still going OK but we do chase sticks a bit and some work on being more aggressive at the front hip and at the contest in general is still required if we want to win finals and that will come with more hard work but hard to fault them this year in general though.
We have a week off this week but we will still train both nights as Footscray in 2 weeks will be a big test for us and we must knock off a couple of teams above us to get a coveted top 2 spot.
Toby Exton was terrific again and Josh Naughton, Patty Mac, AJ and Gaz and Gal all played their parts really well.
Rub
Women’s B Grade
Sunday saw the team host Eltham who had only lost one game and were second to us on the ladder.
It was good to see a number of the Committee and State League Men supporting the team from the sidelines (and from a distance once the rain began!)
Once again it was going to be a challenge with Tarryn and Eleanor unavailable leaving the team with 11 players and one sub.
The team started well gaining first possession and it was quick to see Eltham were going to play a very aggressive style. We had a number of scoring opportunities throughout the first half but poor shooting saw the team head into half time trailing Eltham 2 – 5. Eltham were far more aggressive and determined on ground balls and shot very well. If it wasn’t for Bruiser making some great saves and solid defence from Nina and Ivy the team could have been further behind. Goal scorers in the first half were Romy and Sarah.
Half time saw the chance to reassess how we were playing and try to get back to basics – contested ground balls, hard running, solid defence and quality shooting.
The team started the 2nd half a player down for the first 6.5 minutes and through Romy won the ball out of the face off and score 2 quick goals to swing the momentum back in our favour.
We were more competitive on contested ground balls and ran hard at both ends of the field and Bruiser, Nina & Ivy continued to stand tall in defence. Our pressure and intensity had lifted and our “Mozzies” (Brooke, Sarah & Emma) were great in transition running up and down the ground after fighting hard and winning ground balls. Tara scored then a great cutting goal by Kate (fed by Tara) saw the team draw level with just over 6 minutes to go.
With no subs the pressure was on, Romy scored to give Malvern the lead, Eltham equalised then Romy scored again. With 2 minutes remaining we were one up and fortunately Romy was able to win the face off and we were able to run the clock down with a mixture of frenzied cutting, holding the ball behind and fortunately a defensive Eltham who did not come out and force the ball
Certainly a game of 2 halves where Eltham dominated the first half and Malvern the second. It was a great effort under the circumstances for the team to come back and score a very good win. Everyone contributed in what was a very physical hard fought game.
Once again the defence held strong thru Nina & Ivy along with Bruiser in goals who made many great saves and provided great transition with her clears.
We need to continue to work on our basic skills (catching, throwing and ground balls) as well as dodging and shooting if we are going to be a serious contender come finals time.
Div 3
Malvern 12 v Caulfield 11
Malvern headed to Caulfield in a must win game to keep our finals hopes alive and they didn’t disappoint. It was the best team game they’ve played all year. It was also the youngest team we’ve had all year with the inclusion of 3 juniors into the team. The Little Boppa in Aaron Currie, Tom Bown and Harry Lowe all played above their weight to be major contributors to the win.
The game was tight all day with Malvern leading most of the day and 3 goals up with 5 minutes to go when Caulfield mounted a last ditch effort to level but Paul Spierling stood tall in the goals to only allow 2 in a man of the match performance.
Goals and Assists: Rod Finnigan 4 and 1, Louis McKenzie 3 and 1, Aaron Currie 2 and 1, Joe Forster 1 and 1, Anthony Bosisto 1 and 1, Tim Laidlaw 1 and 0, Brendan Farrell 0 and 1, Darian Panter 0 and 1.
Best: Paul Spierling, Aaron Currie, Tom Bown, Nick Maher, Louis McKenzie, Rod Finnigan (didn’t hit the goalie at all, first time ever).
Under 17’s
Win: A lot, to nothing
This weekend’s game was always going to be about ‘Team Structure’ and patience with the ball. Melbourne Uni are still a very young Team and we were not going to learn anything by crushing them.
As much as we tried to ‘level’ the playing field, sometimes you can’t hold back the natural desire and drive these boys have.
6 goal scorers registered which is what we want other teams to ‘worry’ about.
Our big games are yet to come with Caulfield and Williamstown not too far away so we will be stepping up our efforts for the run towards a ‘top 2’ finish.
We welcomed back Tim and now we await the return of Danny to have this team ‘complete’…..Watch this space……closely
Thanks to Joey for umpiring again even though he had some personal matters to attend to. Much Appreciated!
Under 13’s
James Suffolk is on fire. Two wins in a row, which is more fun, although they seem to have a great time either way. Justin Mitchell got there at half time after his hockey and got one of our six goals.
Pat has trained James Arnold how to do face off’s, so we are winning the ball out of the Middle. Thanks to Squeak, House and Jay for helping while I am away. No games next week, but then we have two tough games against the top of the ladder; Williamstown and Surrey white.
PS: I am in Berlin and will be playing Lacrosse this weekend with Tim Naughton, and maybe Callum Gerard.
Malvern representing overseas!
Under 11 Blacks
The blacks went out to Altona on Saturday under a blue sky, beautiful sunshine and chilly breeze.
Seven (7) players were representing the blacks against Footscray, Williamstown, Camberwell and Eltham.
Games were abridged with 2 x 10 minute halves and one bye.
Footscray was a great start up, with the opposition having a brilliant goalie and making us earn our goals. A nice 3 goal victory to start off.
A bye greeted us next and then we faced Williamstown. This was a high quality game, with kids on both teams demonstrating great skills and high quality running.
This was an enjoyable game and unfortunately we were pipped by a couple of goals.
Camberwell were always going to be a tough team, with ten (10) players most closer to the next age bracket simply running us off our legs.
We finished off against Eltham, shooting out to a 7 goal lead, however in our endeavours to support an Eltham player and helping her score we allowed 4 goals in late. Played in great spirit this was a great laugh for us all.
Danielle Mitchell, Will Rice, Liam Barnes and Matthew Arnold worked up and down ground all morning. Riley Suffolk picked up some key ground balls in our attack half and was well supported by Ben Godber and Will Jackson.
A great effort by everyone.
Thank you to Anita Arnold for scoring and Chris Ive as our ref.
Regards
Adam Barnes
Under 11 Reds
The under eleven Reds awoke extra early on Saturday. They had a long road ahead of them that would lead all the way to Altona, and the first under eleven Lightning Carnival of the season. Not one, but three abridged games awaited them, and they were surely in for the biggest test of their collective mettle yet.
The first challengers of the day had come even further than Malvern team, and brought plenty of muscle along with them. The air must be sweeter in Bendigo, and the water may well be laced with human growth hormone, because the earth shook as the gargantuans from the goldfields took the field, and soon they took control of the game. Allie Jackson was tenacious in goal and Jake Sedey worked relentlessly in offence, but the heavy artillery from the Bendigans soon stretched out to a healthy lead. Some superhuman inspiration would be required to repair this deficit.
Fortunately, inspiration was at hand. On the back of an indulgent two and a half hours’ sleep, Toby Exton was feeling as fresh as a fossilised daisy, and he roared to life at the sight of his beloved team in trouble. He delivered a half-time sermon with more guts than anzac day, and when Doug Massey bravely donned the goalkeeper’s helmet and let the team back into battle, their determination-to-weight ratio was world class. The second half was one of the best displays of teamwork and stick-to-it-iveness that your faithful correspondent has seen in any lacrosse game this year, and while they didn’t manage to recover the damage of the first half, the Reds reminded everyone watching what team sport is all about, and proved that there are some things, like courage and teamwork, that you can’t inject into the water supply.
The next opponent of the carnival was Altona, who presented an equally menacing spectacle, kitted out in gloves, shoulder pads and one or two very impressive mullets. Fred Jackson still had Toby’s speech ringing in his ears, though, and got so enthusiastic that he spent over two minutes straight wrestling with his opponent for a ground ball, and eventually got the better of him to score three goals for the game, thanks to the best performance of the season so far from Joe Massey in attack. His brother Doug faced heavy fire once again, sustaining light bruising over at least a third of his body, and keeping Malvern right in the thick of the game until the dying minutes, when his injuries forced him to the sidelines and allowed the home team to slip ahead.
The day was not over, though, and after a rejuvenating break, the Reds took the field for a final time, becoming the first Malvern team ever to come up against Hoppers Crossing Lacrosse Club. Malvern had a hundred years of history to their advantage, and it showed, with Bella Korolik quickly taking a metaphorical scalpel to the Hoppers Crossing defence and leading her team out to a healthy lead. Goals came thick and fast from everyone on the team after that, including goalkeeper Allee Jackson, who didn’t allow the helmet to slow her down as she ran the length of the field and put one past the other keeper, though it was disallowed by Dave Gerard, mostly out of jealousy. When he blew his whistle for the final time, the Reds were putting the finishing touches on their first win of the season, and a very successful Lightning Carnival. They’ll have some powerful experience under their belts when they return from the break
