The Blue and Gold army were out in force on a glorious Saturday for the second weekend of Hockey Victoria finals.

The Under 12 Pennant (North West) side played brilliantly to win the premiership in front of a big crowd of both Altona and Footscray parents, friends and club members. The match didn’t have the spite of the “West End Riot” at Premier League Level, but was an entertaining display, with the skills on show seemingly beyond the years of the young participants.

It was a close first half, with both goal keepers called upon to make numerous saves. Cooper Burns was providing some great run through the midfield, showing the skills and vision that had him representing Victoria at the recent U/12 Schoolboys National championships. Some great team play saw a quick break and the ball end up in a one-on-one with the diminutive Riley Kenny slotting the opening goal to take a 1-0 lead into the break. Kenny was not the first in his family to be involved in finals heroics, his uncle, Ian Bartlett is the club’s Premier League games record holder and dual premiership player.

Connor Otterbach slotted a fantastic goal after a great team build up, about ten minutes into the second half. Footscray kept coming at the A’s though, but the defenders kept them at bay. Otterbach and Burns combined for a great two on one, with Burns slotting Altona’s third goal, putting the match beyond doubt. Footscray got a late goal, but ran out of time, seeing Altona take the premiership.

Young coach, Heath McDonald, was pleased for his charges “It was a great team effort, with everybody contributing and having a really enjoyable match.” Assistant Coach, and Premier League veteran Tyson Priddle said “It was great to see the development of some new skills amongst the team throughout the season, and they were able to apply these and a few tactics we worked on during the match.”

Altona’s Under 14 North West mixed side also won the premiership on Friday night.

Under 12 Pennant (North West) Grand Final
Altona 3 defeated Footscray 1
Goals: Riley Kenny, Connor Otterbach, Cooper Burns

Known as the “entertainment machine” for their exciting way of playing, the Premier League Reserve side played cross-town rival Hawthorn in the Elimination Final on Saturday afternoon.

After beating Hawthorn twice during the home and away season, Altona went in confident of winning through to the Preliminary Final, however Hawthorn dominated from the opening whistle.

While Altona struggled for possession, and Hawthorn created numerous scoring opportunities, the Seagulls defence was solid, led by captain Damian Luci, veteran Ian Bartlett and goal keeper Jason Butterfield. Against the flow of play, midfielder Brendan Scanlon slotted a goal, to take a 1-0 lead into half time.

Hawthorn came out firing after the break, scoring an equaliser from a penalty corner, and not long after took the lead 2-1 with a deflection from a cross. Coach Ben Newell made some changes to the structure, bringing Altona back into the match, slowing the Hawthorn onslaught.

Centre Half, Andrew Scanlon, had been dominating in the middle of the ground, providing drive, and cutting through the Hawthorn defence. Newell moved him back a line, to full back, and he immediately proved the coach right, sending several 75 overhead tosses into the Altona attack, putting Hawthorn on the back foot.

The Altona attack were suddenly looking more potent with Lachie Russell, Brendan Scanlon and Ben Burriss providing Andrew Scanlon with a range of targets. While they weren’t creating many field goal attempts, the Seagull forwards were successful in winning some penalty corners, and Andrew Scanlon did the rest.

With twelve minutes to go, Scanlon slotted a text book penalty corner drag flick, to equalise 2-2. With only two minutes on the clock, it appeared that the match was going to head to extra time. Not on Andrew Scanlon’s watch though! He sent a 75 yard overhead toss to the left wing, where Burriss trapped it and fired the ball to striker Brian Fanning deep in attack, who quickly passed the ball into the circle to Brendan Scanlon, who calmly won a penalty corner. Andrew Scanlon stepped up and slotted his second, another searing drag flick, to take a 3-2 lead. Altona held on in the final minutes to win the match.

Coach Newell was pleased with the get out of jail win “We didn’t play anywhere near our best, but still pulling off a win is a good sign. I was pleased that the side was able to change their structure when asked to, mid game, and that got us back into the contest. Andrew Scanlon was awesome all match, and stood up and won the match, which is amazing for someone so young. He proved why he represented Victoria this year in the Nationals, and I look forward to him being a great player for our club at Premier League level for years to come.”

Altona play Camberwell next weekend (likely Saturday at the State Hockey Centre) in the Preliminary Final.

Premier League Reserve Elimination Final
Altona 3 defeated Hawthorn 2
Goals: Brendan Scanlon 1, Andrew Scanlon 2