HOCKEY

By Shelby Brooks

Frankston Hockey Club has celebrated 49 years of play with its annual past and present members day held on Saturday 13 August.

Around 50 past members also turned out to catch up. There were stories shared, with the passage of time not dulling the feelings from past moments of triumph or defeat.

The annual club event, which coincided with the last home round for the club before finals, saw a full day of matches from the senior teams. The day opened with the club’s youngest members getting involved with Hook in2 Hockey.

President Chris Wall said one past player had travelled internationally to attend the day. “It’s a truly remarkable spectacle to witness members, who played in the inaugural 1973 grand final, come together and reminisce about the days past and watch the future of the club they started playing the sport they’ve loved for a lifetime,” he said.

“Familiar faces from decades past filled the pavilion, saturating the air with echoes of laughter, as old memories were called upon and stories re-told with more hype than ever before.

“All of this was surrounded by an energetic atmosphere with the senior teams securing four wins from five matches.”

On the pitch, the women’s firsts had a convincing win over Bayside 4-0, with captain Nicole Harris slotting in two goals, and Shayla Jansz notching up the remaining two.

The firsts are sitting comfortably at second on the ladder and will play top dogs Casey in the first round of finals next week.

The women’s seconds have improved from the start of the season, though went down to Glen Eira 0-4. The girls were able to find a few break away balls through Glen Eira’s defensive line, but weren’t able to snag any goals.

The men’s firsts, who are set to finish the season undefeated as minor premiers, played bottom of the table Bayside. The result was a 2-0 win to Frankston.

The men’s seconds had a big win against Hawthorn – with Nathanial Dunston scoring two and singles from Chris Cooper, Jesse Hennessy and Alex Hull. The men’s threes in the twilight match of the day played against Knox with a 5-0 thumping win. Notable performance was from junior Harrison Green who scored a goal and was best on ground for Frankston.