ALTONA survived a wild encounter with newly-promoted Mentone to win 6-5 and get their Hockey Victoria men’s state league 1 season off to a positive start.
The A’s were seemingly cruising towards a comfortable victory with a three-goal half-time lead but the blood pressure raised in the second half as the home side refused to roll over and fought back to level.
A’s co-coach Ben Guy was a relieved figure at the full-time whistle.
“Certainly wasn’t the ideal start, conceding five goals to a side that had never played state league 1 before,” he said. “We were pleased, however, that the young blokes stood up when the momentum was with the opposition and the match was up for grabs.
“It’s great to see further development from a bunch of local boys who have come through our junior program, players like [Chris] Coleman, [Jesse] Gatt, [Michael] Gallo, [Patrick] Phillips and [Matthew] Briscoe. I expect big things from these guys in 2012.”
The A’s pride themselves on being skilful side. Their effectiveness with the stick was tested by the spongy surface that led to a scrappy game but at least there were goals and plenty of them.
Gatt and Coleman had one each before 10 minutes had elapsed. Mentone pegged one back against the flow of play but the home side’s joy was short-lived with the A’s responding through debutant Sukhpreet Buttar and Coleman.
The control the Seagulls appeared to have at the break weakened in the second half when the enthusiastic young opposition sent two goals past goalkeeper Aaron Anstis. Coleman’s hat-trick afforded the A’s a bit of breathing space but the warning early in the second half should have acted as a precursor to what would come with Mentone scoring back-to-back goals to tie the score at five-apiece.
The winning goal came off the stick of Butter, who enjoyed the perfect ending to his first game with the A’s who will need to lift for their bout with reigning premier Waverley at JK Grant Reserve on Saturday.
HV RESULTS
Men’s state league 1: Mentone 5 Altona 6, Doncaster 4 Footscray 3.
Women’s state league 1: Mentone 8 d Altona 3, Doncaster 5 Footscray 1.
