Indoor Club Championships Open Div 1 wrap up

The Indoor Club Championships got underway on Friday night, and the action-packed weekend did not disappoint, with a tremendously competitive atmosphere in both the Women’s and Men’s events.

There was a total of 39 matches played across the three days and we saw a whopping 318 goals scored. In the Women’s, it was Jessie Brennan (Altona) scoring 14 goals across 6 games. While in the Men’s, Oliver Marshall (TEM) led the way with 18 goals in 7 games.

Women’s Competition

In the Women’s Competition, it was Mentone and Altona who finished 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the round robin, and progressed into the Grand Final. Right before the half-time buzzer, Jessie Dean scored her 9^th tournament goal, giving Mentone a 2-1 lead heading into the second half. A back-and-forth contest ensued, with no team able to put the ball into the back of net, and with 3 minutes left and Mentone leading 2-1, they looked poised to redeem their finals loss to the same team last year. However, Altona star Jamie Zimmerman scored a last-minute penalty shot, to level the match 2-2 and send it into shoot-outs. The close contest gave no leeway in the shoot-out, as after 6 shots, both teams were 3-3, pushing it to sudden death. It would be Mentone to walk away with the glory, after two clutch saves in a row from GK Emma Leighton set up the game winning goal scored by Teisha King, giving Mentone the win 2-2 (5-4 SO).

The high level of play was also on display in the 3^rd and 5^th place matches. Waverley claimed 3^rd place with a decisive 4-1 win over Hawthorn, with Waverley goal scorers Evie Stansby and Dacia Koelmeyer scoring 2 apiece. And despite Casey’s Jessica Light scoring a goal in 2’ minutes, TEM’s 5 goal scorers would secure them 5^th place with a 5-2 victory.

Men’s Competition

In the Men’s Competition, it was a tightly knit ladder, with 1^st & 2^nd finishing on 13 points; 3^rd & 4^th – 10 points and 5^th and 6^th – 7 points, setting up the Sunday classification matches to be highly entertaining!

It was Altona and Waverley who met in the Grand Final, after finishing 1^st and 2^nd in the pool matches. A depleted Waverley team struck first, but a barrage of Altona goals ensued, with 3 scored in next 4 minutes, going into the second half. An early second half goal by Altona’s Liam Henderson gave them a commanding 4-1 lead, but this was quickly followed by a Waverley goal from captain Daniel Brennan, placing some pressure on Altona. Emotions were high throughout the match, with a total of 5 cards being given out across the 36 minutes, but in the end, it would be Altona taking the Gold 4-2.

The 3^rd and 5^th place matches were just as entertaining, with upsets in both, as Hawthorn’s John Kilroe-Smith scored a 36’ minute penalty corner after the final buzzer, giving Hawthorn a 3-2 win over Mentone to claim 3^rd. Whilst it was a offensive bombardment in the 5^th place playoff, with 9 goals scored in the second half. Although Essendon’s Xavier Harrington scored 4 goals, it was just not quite enough to beat the collective effort from TEM, with TEM taking 5^th place in a 6-5 win.

A huge thank you to all of the club administrators, team managers, coaches, players and supporters that were involved in the Event in some capacity!

Thank you to Stuart Westmore for his time this weekend taking photos of the event! Go visit @hockeyvictoriaofficial and @skwhockeypics on Instagram to see our players in action!

View the full photo album here.

The final standings were as follows:

To check out all of the results from the weekend, please use the following links:

Men’s Competition - https://hockeyvictoria.altiusrt.com/competitions/114

Women’s Competition - https://hockeyvictoria.altiusrt.com/competitions/115

A huge thank you to our dedicated officials for their tireless work across the weekend. The Event truly would not have been possible without you all. A special mention to the following for their appointments:

The action continues this weekend (Feb 10, 11, 12) with the Under 18 Boys & Girls Event! Be sure to keep an eye on the HV website and social channels for updates.