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News for 30 September 2015

All the news for Wednesday 30 September 2015


Blades take control in quest for grand final

Vikings and Thundersticks following in Pool C



Queensland Blades sit in pole position to secure a place in Friday’s men’s AHL grand final after a 2-0 win over WA Thundersticks saw them move three points clear at the top of Pool C. The Thundersticks and Victoria Vikings sit three points back with the Blades and Vikings set to meet on Thursday in the last pool match. Goals from Australian Kookaburras Mark Knowles and Jake Whetton inflicted the damage on WA, who were under pressure for long periods.

Victoria Vikings co-captains Glenn Simpson and Chris Ciriello led by example as their goals in either half, supplemented by Josh Simmonds’ goal seven minutes from full time helped the Victorians to a 3-1 win over Tassie Tigers. The result keeps the Vikings in the hunt for a top two finish in Pool C. Eddie Ockenden’s late goal was a mere consolation for the defending champs, Tasmania, who face an uphill battle to qualify for Friday’s Grand Final.

The New South Wales Waratahs put the disappointment of failing to reach the top four behind them with a 5-1 win over RAMS Home Loans Canberra Lakers as they reset their sights on a fifth place finish. Goals from tournament top scorer Blake Govers, his brother Kieran, Tom Craig, Simon Orchard and Tristan White put NSW in pole position to top Pool D with Jake Staines chipping in for ACT.

17 year-old Cooper Powardy’s double either side of Cameron White’s goal earned the SA Hotshots a narrow 3-2 win over the host side, SRA Territory Stingers, also in Pool D. Scott Boyde’s double gave the Stingers hope and they had their chances to get the result but defeat leaves them third in the pool – ahead of the Lakers on goal difference - and staring at the playoff for seventh and eighth places unless they can overcome NSW Waratahs on Thursday.

Men's Australian Hockey League
Powered by Premier Technology Solutions
Darwin

Day 4 Results
NSW Waratahs 5-1 RAMS Home Loans Canberra Lakers (Pool D)
SA Hotshots 3-2 SRA Territory Stingers (Pool D)
Tassie Tigers 1-3 Victoria Vikings (Pool C)
Queensland Blades 2-0 WA Thundersticks (Pool C)

Pool C
1. QLD Blades (6 points)
2. VIC Vikings (3 points)
3. WA Thundersticks (3 points)
4. Tassie Tigers (0 points)

Pool D
1. NSW Waratahs (6 points)
2. SA Hotshots (3 points)
3. SRA Territory Stingers (1 point)
4. RAMS Home Loans Canberra Lakers (1 point)

On social media, use #AHLmen

Watch all of Thursday's matches live online here.

Upcoming Fixtures, Thursday 1 October
2pm RAMS Home Loans Canberra Lakers v SA Hotshots
4pm NSW waratahs v SRA NT Stingers
6pm WA Thundersticks v Tassie Tigers
8pm Queensland Blades v Victoria Vikings

*All times are ACST (Darwin time). 30 minutes behind AEST.

Hockey Australia media release



Eyes on finals for NSW & QLD

NSW Arrows sit on top of Pool C standings after day four



Tasmanian Eleanor Brennan’s early strike earned the Tassie Van Demons a 1-0 victory over the NT Pearls on day four of the women’s Australian Hockey League (AHL) powered by Premier Technology Solutions.
 
Adding three points to their tally in Pool D, Tasmania now put themselves in a stable position for the sought after battle between places fifth and sixth on Friday if they can win their next clash against the SA Suns.
 
Also in Pool D, the WA Diamonds overcame the SA Suns with a close 3-2 win. Dutch import Kim Lammers’ powerful drag flick found the net along with strikes from forwards Kathryn Slattery and Erin Flynn. Staying on the Diamonds’ tail throughout the match, Hockeyroo Georgina Parker and teammate Emily Grist struck for the SA Suns, however, it wasn’t enough to seal the deal before the final siren.
   
After carrying three points into Pool D, the WA Diamonds now sit on top of the standings with six points, followed by the SA Suns and Tassie Van Demons on three points and NT Peals on nil.
 
With eyes firmly focused on Friday’s finals, the Queensland Scorchers' crushing 6-2 win over the Canberra Labor Club Strikers added valuable points to their tally in Pool C. ACT's Strikers forward Laura Gray’s double couldn’t override Queensland’s firepower for the day. Doubles from Murphy Allendorf and Savannah Fitzpatrick alongside goals from Madison Fitzpatrick and Stephanie Kershaw helped put them into second position in Pool C.
 
In the final clash of the day, the NSW Arrows’ Kate Hanna’s early double and a strike from Grace Stewart helped the defending champions to a 3-2 victory over the Victorian Vipers, which means they remain undefeated and on top of the Pool C standings holding six points. Battling back throughout the match, Vipers Sophie Taylor and Georgia Nanscawen found the target, however, it wasn’t enough to bring them first across the line.
 
Looking at Pool C, the NSW Arrows sit on top with six points, followed by Queensland scorers, Victorian Vipers and the Canberra Labor Club Strikers sitting fourth.
 
Women's AHL, powered by Premier Technology Solutions
Day 4
Sydney, NSW
Results
Tassie Van Demons 1-0 NT Pearls
WA Diamonds 3-2 SA Suns
Canberra Labor Club Strikers 2-6 Queensland Scorchers
NSW Arrows 3-2 Victorian Vipers

Pool C
1. NSW Arrows (6 points)
2. Queensland Scorchers (3 points)
3. Victorian Vipers (3 points)
4. Canberra Labor Club Strikers (0 points)

Pool D
1. WA Diamonds (6 points)
2. SA Suns (3 points)
3. Tassie Van Demons (3 points)
4. NT Pearls (0 points)

Upcoming Fixtures - Women, Thursday 1 October

SA Suns v Tassie Van Demons
WA Diamonds v NT Pearls
Victorian Vipers v Canberra Labor Club Strikers
NSW Arrows v Queensland Scorchers

Hockey Australia media release



Following mums’ footsteps

26 years between top grade flags for mothers and daughters at Doncaster HC



Situated in the outskirts of Melbourne, Doncaster Hockey Club, home to some of Australia’s familiar hockey faces have finally started to wind down after a successful year with their women’s premier league team.

Having not held a premiership cup aloft for 26 years, the Doncaster women’s premier league finally brought home the crown after a 3-1 victory over Greensborough a few weeks back.

Whilst it was a victory, it was also a special moment for players Hayley Padget and Samantha Snow, whose mum’s – Helen Padget and Andrea Snow - were the last to hold up the premiership cup for Doncaster 26 years ago.

Part of the National Women’s Development Squad, Doncaster forward Hayley Padget was grateful to be able to return to Victoria to play the final after moving to Perth to join Hockey Australia’s High Performance group earlier this year.

“I’m so grateful to Hockey Australia for allowing Australian development squad athletes like myself the chance to be able to go home and play club finals. I have played with some of these girls for up to 18 years, with this being our first state league one grand final in 26 years.

“It was such a special feeling taking the cup back to the club rooms after our win, knowing it hadn’t been there in 26 years when mums team had won it.”

To read the full match report on the Doncaster women’s premier league grand final against Greensborough, visit Doncaster Hockey Clubs website here .

Hockey Australia media release



Catch the Black Sticks in action

By David Leggat


The Black Sticks' series against Argentina and India will be streamed live and exclusive on nzherald.co.nz

Rio Olympic qualification looms large for the men's Black Sticks.

They must win the Oceania tournament in Stratford, starting on October 21 - and that, effectively, means toppling world No 1 Australia - in order to secure a spot in the field for Rio next year.

The women's Black Sticks, world ranked No 4, are already in the Olympic field, but relish any chance to tackle the second-ranked Aussies.

Both teams have an ideal lead-up to the Oceania event next week.

The men face India, and the women meet Argentina in four-game series in the South Island.

-All eight games on the South Island tours are available to watch exclusively live at nzherald.co.nz

-Users just need to click on the links to each game below to stream the game so bookmark this page

While Colin Batch's men are ranked seventh, India sit just one place lower and should provide precisely the tough workout New Zealand will be seeking before playing Australia.

The women will have their work cut out against the third-ranked Argentines in what should be a cracking series.

All games are being played in the South Island as Hockey New Zealand looks to spread the international flavour around the country.

Live streams for all matches will become live on this page 10 minutes prior to the start of games.

New Zealand men v India:
Oct 6: at Nelson
Oct 7: at Nelson
Oct 9: at Christchurch
Oct 10: at Christchurch

New Zealand women v Argentina:
Oct 3:at Blenhaim
Oct 4: at Blenheim
Oct 6: at Nelson
Oct 9: at Christchurch

The New Zealand Herald



Hadfield looking forward to incredible EHL experience


Image Credit: Euro Hockey League/Adrian Boehm

Grange goalkeeper Sean Hadfield is looking forward to “an incredible experience” when his Scottish champion side take on host Harvestehuder THC next week in Round 1 of the EHL.

His club finally ended the decade-long reign of Kelburne as Scotland’s top dogs last spring when they eventually prevailed in a shoot-out after two draws from two games in their national playoffs.

Colin Clarke’s team did it the hard way, twice fighting back from deficits to land the victory and Hadfield, a crucial player in the shoot-out, says that spirit – allied to some smart coachng – is indicative of what his side brings to the table.

“Beating Kelburne in the play offs to become national champions took a massive team effort over the two games,” he told the EHL website. “To come from behind twice and then win on penalties took a great deal of determination.

“Our coaches did some key video analysis after the first game, which really helped and meant that we had a key strategy for the second leg. We had also beaten them earlier in the league campaign so we knew we had the ability to beat them again.”

It was a superb campaign with the Scottis Cup title also annexed. Since then, the side has undergone a couple of changes with danger man Hamish Imrie moving south to Beeston but, on the flip side, Grange have added Australian Ryan Holding to join two fellow country men Todd Harmsworth and Arin Doig in the panel.

Indeed, Hadfield names Doig as a “massive part of the team” along with the experienced Cammy Fraser.

While it is a first EHL outing for many of the team, the majority did take part in the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy last May in Dublin, something that has given Grange a taste for this type of tournament.

Ultimately, they finished fifth in the tournament but were unlucky in a couple of their big ties not to snatch something more tangible.

“I feel we were very unfortunate in the European Trophy. We played some of our best hockey of the season but came up just short against the hosts, Three Rock Rovers and also Stroitel Brest, who ended up winning be the competition. With a little more luck we could have maybe came away with at least a medal and top three finish.”

Nonetheless, it has whetted the appetite for another European challenge just five months on and the goalkeeper cannot wait for their dates with Harvestehuder THC and HC Wien.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of playing the ex-EHL champions, Harvestehuder. For the majority of our team, it will be their first time playing at the EHL so it will be an incredible experience playing the hosts in front of a home crowd.

“Our game against HC Wein is the game we are really targeting to try and get a positive result and hopefully notch Grange hockey club's first win at the EHL!”

Euro Hockey League media release



FIH confirms women’s Argentina Hockey World League Final schedule



The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the match schedule for the women’s Argentina Hockey World League Final being played in Rosario between 5-13 December 2015.

Reigning Olympic, World and Hockey World League champions Netherlands begin their title defence against Germany at 16:30 (all times local, ART) on Saturday 5 December in what will be one of the highlights of the opening day of play at the Estadio Mundialista de hockey.

The pool matches will continue until Tuesday 8 December followed by the Quarter-finals which take place on Thursday.

The Semi-finals will be played on Saturday at 16:30 and 19:00 before the final two matches on Sunday 13 December - the bronze medal game at 16:30 and the Final at 19:00.

The latest broadcast partners for the event were also announced by FIH, confirming where people will be able to watch the games on TV and online during the competition.

Broadcasters partners confirmed so far include: Canal Siete (Argentina); NOS (Netherlands); Sky NZ (New Zealand); Star Sports (India); Astro (Malaysia); OSN (North Africa and United Arab Emirates); Supersport (South Africa); PTV (Pakistan) and Willow TV (USA).

The event will feature the eight national teams who qualified through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Valencia, Spain and Antwerp, Belgium.

They are Netherlands, currently ranked number one in the FIH World Rankings, Australia (2); Argentina (3); New Zealand (4); Germany (5); China (6); Great Britain (7, based on England’s ranking) and Korea (9).

With all eight teams already qualified for the 2016 Olympics, for many teams this will be one of the last opportunities to test themselves against each other before they meet again in Rio.

Some of them will also take part in the 2016 Champions Trophy, taking place in London, England in June, shortly before the Games. However, with only the winners of the Hockey World League Final guaranteed a place in that event, there’s a lot to play for in Rosario.

This year’s venue, the Estadio Mundialista de Hockey, was built to host the 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup before later being used to stage the 2012 women’s Champions Trophy.

The full schedule for the Argentina Hockey World League Final is now available to view by visiting the Match page of the official event website here.

You can also discover which games each broadcaster will be showing by visiting the TV page on the website here.

For all the latest news and exclusive content regarding the Argentina Hockey World League Final, visit FIH.ch.

FIH site



Hockeyroos’ World League Fixtures

Aussie women drawn with Argentina, China and Great Britain



The Hockeyroos will face China, Argentina and Great Britain in the Hockey World League Final in Rosario after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced the schedule for the tournament, which runs 5-13 December.

Two years ago, the Australian women finished as runners-up to the Netherlands, going down 5-1 to the Dutch in the grand final after seeing off England in the semi-final. They qualified for the Rosario tournament through their third place finish at the World League Semi Final in Antwerp in July, the same tournament that earned them qualification to the 2016 Olympic Games.

In addition to the world number-two ranked Hockeyroos, the line-up includes Netherlands (ranked #1), Argentina (#3), New Zealand (#4), Germany (#5), China (#6), Great Britain (#7) and Korea (#9).

All eight have qualified for the Olympic Games next year and for the winners there is the incentive of a guaranteed invitation to the Champions Trophy in London in June, a significant preparatory event ahead of Rio 2016.

Adam Commens’ side will open their campaign against China on December 5 before doubling up against Argentina 24 hours later. They round the pool phase off against Great Britain on December 8.

An Australian broadcaster for the tournament is yet to be confirmed.

The full schedule is now available to view by visiting the Match page of the official event website here.

Hockey Australia media release



Women's World League Final Schedule confirmed


GB celebrate scoring at the World League semi final in 2015

The FIH has confirmed the schedule for the women’s World League Final set to take place in Rosario, Argentina between 5 December and 12 December 2015.

Great Britain will open their campaign against the hosts, Argentina and then take on China and Australia in their remaining pool games, before the classification matches begin.

The competition brings together eight of the world's best national women's hockey teams, who will go head to head as they battle to decide who will be crowned Hockey World League champions.

With all the sides taking part in Rosario already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, it is certainly shaping up to be an exciting event. Fans will experience displays of exceptional skill and outstanding physical fitness, with non-stop action and plenty of goals.

Reigning Olympic and World Champions Netherlands will be looking to defend the title they won when it was held in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina in 2013.

This year the finalists are Australia, ranked number two in the FIH World Rankings; Argentina (3); New Zealand (4); Germany (5); China (6); Great Britain (7, based on England’s ranking) and Korea (9).

The Estadio Mundialista de Hockey in Rosario will hold this year's event. It was built to host the 2010 women's BDO FIH World Cup before later being used to stage the 2012 women’s Champions Trophy.

Up to 6,000 people will be able to watch each and every game live at the venue throughout the nine days of competition, while millions more around the world will be able to watch on TV and online.

Keep up to date with all the latest news and exclusive content via FIH.ch during the 10 week countdown.

For more information about the upcoming Hockey World League Finals visit: http://www.fih.ch/events/hockey-world-league/

England Hockey Board Media release



Abdo Appointed Wales U18 Girls Programme Head Coach

 
Walid Abdo coaching in Cardiff & Met Hockey Club

Head Coach for National League side Cardiff & Met and former coach for Wales’ Under 21 Women, Walid Abdo, has been appointed as the new Programme Head Coach for the Girls National Age Group Under 16 & 18 Squads for the 2015-2016 season.

Walid joins the Hockey Wales Performance Coaching Staff with impressive credentials from an extensive coaching and playing career. As well as having been himself a Senior Welsh International for 12 years, he brings with him over 20 years of experience from coaching National League sides, Welsh Age Group Squads, as well as the Great Britain Superleague Team.

Walid, who is originally from Cardiff and has coached at Cardiff & Met for the past 7 years, said, “I’m really excited to be stepping into the role and involved on the international scene again. It’s an exciting prospect putting your wits against some of the best international coaches in Europe, and seeing how you can develop your team. I can’t wait to get started.”

His coaching highlights include, but are not limited to, winning the Welsh Cup multiple times, two-times European gold, European silver, Indoor European bronze and two-time National League Champions. He also led the first Welsh team to ever play in the Euro Hockey League two years ago.

“The team had a tough year last season, so I want to make sure that we squeeze every minute of quality into their training programme. One of the main things though is going to be working with these young women to try to change their current mentality and make them believe that they can be winners”, he continued.

“I think it starts with the girls coming with an attitude of excellence and us delivering excellence, so that we can meet in the middle and hopefully be successful at international level. What would be the cherry on top of the cake would be for me to see them develop into Senior Internationals and hopefully start winning major tournaments for Wales.”

At the EuroHockey U18 Championships in Mori (ITA) this July, Wales’ girls finished bottom of their pool after a number of close runs matches. Hockey Wales Performance Manager Dan Clements commented:

“I am really pleased that we have been able to appoint Walid to the role of Programme Head Coach as we get ready to embark on another international season. His passion for hockey in Wales and player development is obvious and being able to add such an experienced coach to the team is a huge boost.”

As well as the new role with Hockey Wales as Programme Head Coach and his long standing role as Head Coach of Cardiff & Met Hockey Club (since 2007), Walid is also a PE Teach and Welsh Baccalaureate at Y Pant School in Pontyclun, where he is also in charge of Child Protection.

Hockey Wales media release

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