Warm conditions greeted players and officials for the first round of the Wimmera Hockey Association's 2018 winter season at Davis Park in Nhill on Saturday.
Most games finished on the scoreboard according to last year's rankings, but the action was much closer on the field.
Above - Yanac's Erin Alexander clears the ball despite attention from Holly Beatie of the Kaniva Women.
Open
The rematch of the 2017 Open grand final between the Yanac Tigers and Kaniva Cobras finished with a score line that suggested a one sided game, but it was close and hard fought, with the reigning premiers able to make the most of more of their opportunities in front of goals.
The Tigers scored six times, with Jamie Harding finding the goals twice, and the Cobras twice, with Mathew McDonald's looped the ball over the goalkeeper's head being the most memorable.
A single goal by Jonathon Horsfall of the Horsham Hurricanes was all that separated his team from the Nhill Rangers, but it was enough to allow them to start the season with a rare win.
Once again the game was closer that what the score board would suggest, with Nhill initially dictating play in the early stages of the game, but the Hurricanes defended well to prevent any scoring in the first half.
Horsfall's goal came ten minutes into what was a very even second half of hockey, with both teams playing with nine players each on the field, instead of the usual eleven, due to the struggle to find players early in the season.
The Warrack Hoops and the Dimboola Burras always give an entertaining display of hockey, and this round was no exception.
In a tight and keenly fought game, the Burras won the first half with Jarryd Williams scoring the only goal before the break and the Hoops unable to convert any of their chances.
A penalty corner conversion by Marcus Williamson soon after play resumed evened the scores but the Burras regained the lead through an accurate shot by Zack Slater-Collard.
Relentless attacking by the Hoops allowed them to score a further three goals through Jordan Williamson, Jarrod Knoop and a second to Marcus Williamson, and solid co-ordinated defence at the other end prevented the Burras from matching this.
The Hoops finished with the win, but the Burras showed enough to prove that they have what it takes to match it with the leading teams this year.
Women
The Warrack Women team has not enjoyed much on field success over recent seasons, but they have started the 2018 season positively by scoring three goals against the reigning premiers in their opening game - they only scored 9 for the entire 2017 season. Donna Rigby scored two and Deb Templeton scored the third.
Although this was not enough to earn a win, as the Roos were able to score four with Kelly Smithyman scoring two of them, it has shown the rest of the competition that the Warrack Women will need to be taken seriously this season.
The Nhill Thunderbirds and Horsham Jets played out a very even game which ended in a victory for the Nhill team.
The Jets took the early lead only six minutes into the game courtesy of a goal by Ellie Morrow, but this was equalled four minutes later when Kellie Farquharson converted a penalty stroke at the ten minute mark.
A field goal by Ellie Murden put the Thunderbirds ahead ten minutes before half time but Sue Puls of the Jets ensured that the teams went into the break locked together on two goals each.
Goals to Leah Hawker of the Thunderbirds and another to Ellie Morrow of the Jets kept the scores deadlocked early in the second half and it was a goal to Nhill's Jess Hayes that separated the teams.
With no further scoring in the final 25 minutes of play, the Thunderbirds finished with the win and some valuable bragging rights over a team they could be vying with for a good place in the finals later in the season.
Yanac controlled much of the play in their game with the Kaniva Women and finished with a three goal win despite some solid work by Kaniva goalkeeper Simone Mitchell, which included successfully defending two penalty strokes.
Shanaye Alexander scored twice and Susan Hedt once for Yanac.
Under 16
Despite being the reigning premiers, the Warrack Revengers took to the field for the first time since their grand final victory last season with a new look team having farewelled a number of premiership players into the senior teams.
A very even first half saw Dimboola Kangaroo Lachlan Geary opening the scoring, but this was matched before the break by Faith Eilola of the Revengers.
Oskar Bennett took the Revengers to the lead with a goal in the first minute after the restart but when Geary scored his second mid-way through the half, scores were again tied.
It was a goal to Ben Williamson that allowed the Revengers to draw ahead and some solid defending allowed them to maintain this one goal margin until the final whistle.
Mikayla Farmers scored two of the Yanac Warriors' three goals in their victory over the Kaniva Raiders. Jasper Croot scored their third, and Olivia Williams was the sole scorer for the Raiders.
The Nhill Leopards started their season confidently with a big win over the Horsham Bombers which featured a number of hockey novices.
Mathew Reichelt scored five goals to be the early leader in the Under 16 goal scoring and his team mate Cory Koop was the only other to score multiple goals in their total of eleven, with four others eluding the Bombers goal keeper once each.
Bombers' full back Thomas Batchelor was named as his team's best player along with Kai Dodson in goals, whilst Reichelt was best for the Leopards.
Under 12 Development Program
This program is beginning to show some positive results with many players already confident enough to step up and also play in the Under 16 competition.
The Dimboola Kookaburras, Horsham Black Hawks and Yanac Lowan Stars all registered wins over the Warrack Avengers, Nhill Bandits and Kaniva Rampagers respectively.
The most constructive point from this program is that over 50 of the next generation of hockey players spent time on the field at the first round for the season.
Round Two Preview
The Nhill and Yanac senior teams will be back at Davis Park in Nhill next Saturday evening to showcase hockey in twilight games as part of a big day of sport at that venue. Earlier in the day the Nhill Tigers footballers and netballers will enjoy their first run for the season after having the bye in the first round.
Whilst early form suggests that the Yanac Tigers should not have too much trouble finishing ahead of the struggling Nhill Rangers in the Open competition, the game in the Women's division should be much closer.
Both the Yanac Women and Nhill Thunderbirds registered confident boosting wins in their opening round clashes and although the Yanac team has had the best of their encounters over resent seasons, some significant recruiting during the off season has seen the Thunderbirds become a more formidable combination.
This will provide for a suitable showpiece game of hockey in front of a crowd that does not usually enjoy this sport.
The remaining games will be played at the Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre on Saturday with the clash between the second and third ranked teams in the Open division last year, the Kaniva Cobras and Warrack Hoops being the feature game.
These are the two teams that are most likely to mount a serious challenge to the dominance of the Yanac Tigers and both will be disparate for a win to gain the early season advantage.
The Horsham Hurricanes will be looking to build on their opening round victory in the late game against the Dimboola Burras who will want to prove that they are better than their result from last Saturday.
Following the form shown last week, both of the Women's games at this venue could go either way.
An improving Warrack Women will take on the Kaniva Women in what should be a very close game, and the Horsham Jets will be disappointed in their opening round performance and will want to at least match the Dimboola Roos.
After only one round it is difficult to read too much into the form of the Under 16 teams as they are all still coming to terms with enforced personnel changes with older players moving onto the senior ranks and their younger replacements still finding their place in the team.
The Dimboola Kangaroos will have to play at their best if they are to defeat the Horsham Bombers, who did not play to their full potential last week.
Both the clash at 11.00 between the Kaniva Raiders and the Warrack Revengers and at 1.30 between the Nhill Leopards and Yanac Warriors could provide any combination of winners with all four in the mix to establish an early lead in this competition.
Round Two Fixture
- at the Dimboola Health and Fitness Centre
9.30 am - Under 16 - Horsham Bombers v. Dimboola Kangaroos
11.00 am - Under 16 - Kaniva Raiders v. Warrack Revengers
12.30 pm - Under 12 Development Program - Horsham Black Hawks v. Dimboola Kookaburras
12.30 pm - Under 12 Development Program - Kaniva Rampagers v. Warrack Avengers
12.30 pm - Under 12 Development Program - Nhill Bandits v. Yanac Lowan Stars
1.30 pm - Under 16 - Nhill Leopards v. Yanac Warriors
3.00 pm - Women - Kaniva Women v. Warrack Women
4.30 pm - Women - Horsham Jets v. Dimboola Roos
6.00 pm - Open - Kaniva Cobras v. Warrack Hoops
7.30 pm - Open - Horsham Hurricanes v. Dimboola Burras
- at Davis Park, Nhill
5.00 pm Nhill Thunderbirds v. Yanac Women Nhill Rangers / Yanac Tigers
6.30 pm Nhill Rangers v. Yanac Tigers Nhill Thunderbirds / Yanac Women
Round One Results
Open
Horsham Hurricanes 1 (Goal - J Hosrfall; Best - J Bannan, P Mackereth, T Roberts) defeated Nhill Rangers 0 (Best - S Bone, D Reichelt, B Miller)
Warrack Hoops 4 (Goals - M Williamson 2, J Williamson, J Knoop; Best - R Bennett, M Williamson, S Schultz) defeated Dimboola Burras 2 (Goals - J Williams, Z Slater-Collard; Best - B Tischler, B Lovett, B Miller)
Yanac Tigers 6 (Goals - J Harding 2, K Croot, S Farmers, T Alexander, M Dart; Best - J Harding, B Alexander, J Honeyman) defeated Kaniva Cobras 2 (Goals - J Mitchell, M McDonald; Best - D Cole, S Mitchell, L Mills)
| | Pts | GD
| | Yanac Tigers | 4 | 4
| | Warrack Hoops | 4 | 2
| | Horsham Hurricanes | 4 | 1
| | Nhill Rangers | 0 | -1
| | Dimboola Burras | 0 | -2
| | Kaniva Cobras | 0 | -4
|
Women
Yanac Women 3 (Goals - S Alexander 2, S Hedt; Best - M Farmers, E Alexander, S Alexander) defeated Kaniva Women 0 (Best - O Williams, S Williams, S Mitchell, C Shurdington)
Nhill Thunderbirds 4 (Goals - J Hayes, L Hawker, E Murden, K Farquharson; Best - G McLeod, E Murden, R Clark) defeated Horsham Jets 3 (Goals - E Morrow 2, S Puls; Best - E Morrow, R Creek, L Schilling)
Dimboola Roos 4 (Goals - K Smithyman 2, A King, I Turnbull; Best - R Lovett, E Klinge, J Hauselberger) defeated Warrack Women 3 (Goals - D Rigby 2, D Templeton; Best - D Rigby, K Krahe, J Bull)
| | Pts | GD
| | Yanac Women | 4 | 3
| | Nhill Thunderbirds | 4 | 1
| | Dimboola Roos | 4 | 1
| | Horsham Jets | 0 | -1
| | Warrack Women | 0 | -1
| | Kaniva Women | 0 | -3
|
Under 16
Warrack Revengers 3 (Goals - O Bennett, B Williamson, F Eilola; Best - R Eilola, B Williamson, O Bennett) defeated Dimboola Kangaroos 2 (Goals - L Geary 2; L Geary, K Bamford, N Krelle, T Krelle)
Yanac Warriors 3 (Goals - M Farmers 2, J Croot; Best - M Farmers, J Croot, C Hassall) defeated Kaniva Raiders 1 (Best - O Williams; Best - J Mitchell, O Williams, N White)
Nhill Leopards 11 (Goals -M Reichelt 5, C Koop 2, J Reichelt, E Murden, S Allen, K Clark; Best - M Reichelt, E Murden, J Reichelt) defeated Horsham Bombers 0 (Best - T Batchelor, K Dodson, C Dodson)
| | Pts | GD
| | Nhill Leopards | 4 | 11
| | Yanac Warriors | 4 | 2
| | Warrack Revengers | 4 | 1
| | Dimboola Kangaroos | 0 | -1
| | Kaniva Raiders | 0 | -2
| | Horsham Bombers | 0 | -11
|
Under 12 Development Program
Horsham Black Hawks 3 (Goals - K Dodson 2, J Nuske, A Kosh; Best - I Christi) defeated Nhill Bandits 2 (Goals - V Maloney, T McBride; Best - T Mo loney)
Yanac Lowan Stars 2 (Goals - H Pedie 2) defeated Kaniva Rampagers 1 (Goal - X Stimson; Best - A Ahmad)
Dimboola Kookaburras 6 (Goals - L Krelle 5, E Simpson; Best - N Eilola) defeated Warrack Avengers 0 (Best - H Zwar)
| | Pts | GD
| | Dimboola Kookaburras | 4 | 6
| | Horsham Black Hawks | 4 | 1
| | Yanac Lowan Stars | 4 | 1
| | Nhill Bandits | 0 | -1
| | Kaniva Rampagers | 0 | -1
| | Warrack Avengers | 0 | -6
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