Saturday night to Penrith for the Bantams followed by Midgets same place one after the other kind of civilized considering how this week had been.
Blacktown Bantams as usual, came to play. SAINTS Bantams, well, they were there, but after Tyrone tried to enthuse them & fire them up before the game & it fell on deaf half asleep ears, things didn’t look good.
Edgo copt a barrage right from the word go with the help of some defence, some times.
Blacktown D had 2 & 3 players all over Casey as soon as he got the puck & Martin was bravely playing injured, trying to shake 2 or 3 when he got the puck as well.
As the game went on it, got worse from there, our experienced players , were there, playing as experienced individuals, & our new recruits were doing their best trying to hold the team together. We were in the game for a while but only just, we struggled to make ordinary passes & to stop Blacktown getting double figures.
Some dubious calls rattled us, & we had players in the bin for the majority of the game, not helping our cause, either. PLAY THE WHISTLE GOOD OR BAD.
We should be content that we only let them score 4 goals.
A game that should on one hand be forgotten, but on the other remembered, for the continual team mistakes we made, so as not to make them again. It would be nice if our experienced players come next week ready to play & get enthusiastic about the game, so as the newer players don’t have to battle, on their own & Stick to the game plan, the Coaches give you
I Hope to see, a much more ready for action, Bantam team next week v The Rhinos.
Next the big hitting Midgets, get ready to rumble with The Bears. We new it would be a tough game as we had a 2 all draw with them in the HEATON CUP.
They never allowed us to get into our rhythm, & Marco was peppered from the start. Our defence was holding out ok, but some bad calls and/or plays by us, saw players in the bin & an uphill battle started from there.
Another game hopefully, soon forgotten, but again should be remembered, so we don’t make the same mistakes again.
Back to Penrith, again, on Sunday night, for the Peewees V Blacktown Flyers. With moments of what looked like, Atoms, playing , interspaced with what looked like The Ice Dogs, this was a great game to watch. Leila had some work cut out for her early, but the D of Emma, Jordan, Dan & Corey soon had things more than covered & turned defence into attack as Emma scored her first Peewee Aussie goal A great shot at that ( Bill is still looking to buy the game puck ) The Peewees never looked back with Jack, Zac & Bayley scoring a hat full of goals assisted by Eathan, & Tim. Ellesse as usual, showed everyone why he has earned previous state selection & on evidence from this game there is no reason why he will not play for N.S.W. again. While not being amongst the high goal scorers he was all over the ice making sure things went right. Actually on the Peewee game record to date, it will be hard pressed to keep 5 or 6 of our players OUT of the state team. Well done Peewees.
The Blacktown manager has asked me to make special mention of the outstanding sportsmanship shown by Bayley, when a scuffle for the puck started, involving both teams, around the goal with their goalie on the ground in a dangerous & vulnerable position. Bayley stepped in & covered their goalie & told everyone, to stop, & step back, therefore avoiding certain injury to their goalie.
OUTSTANDING GOOD SPORTSMANLIKE QUALITIES, CONGRATULATIONS BAYLEY.
Off to our home ice, to see The Bishops in front, with an impressive display, much better than I expected, from this team that was thrown together at the last minute causing headaches for some, more than others, with some experienced old faces, leading the way, for the newer boys on the block, to enjoy some hockey. The Falcons get one back tying the scores, but Bishops break through again with a 2/1 lead, 20 seconds to go & a lapse in concentration by our D sees a lucky goal tying the scores once more, the last face off sees us win the puck, skate into their zone but beaten by the clock.
Arch Angels next to do battle v Penrith, with Dean & Matt keen to be the first on the ice jumping over the boards before the Zamboni isn’t even behind closed doors.
After some blistering goals for us & a lucky reply from them, when I left, the Arch Angels were in front after an impressive display of hockey both in attack & in defence with Jimmi again scrambling to save a certain goal.
Unfortunately I believe it didn’t end up that way.
Parents tell me that The Atoms had an impressive win, with our newer players starting to make an impact, but more importantly, really starting to enjoy their game.
The Women I hear got it together , played like champions & the Competition favourites, were lucky to leave with only one goal under their belts.
Well done ladies the next one must surely be yours.
Remember all ,that there is off ice training EVERY Friday night at the club, $2.00 upstairs between 730 & 830, there is not a SAINTS player out there that will not benefit from this.
That’s what I saw, stay tuned for next weeks action.
A PROUD SAINT, YET AGAIN, GO THE SAINTS