AFTER a successful start to the season in the opening round, Altona’s State League One men’s hockey side entered Saturday’s clash against Southern United full of confidence but it had to wear a 1-1 draw despite its favouritism.
Altona dominated early, creating many scoring chances, but was unable to convert successfully. Penalty corners, so successful last week, were not working, with several breaking down.
“We aim for at least three goals for each week and, of that target, penalty corners are an important contributor. The conditions didn’t help today, but that is no excuse, so this will be a feature of training over the Easter break,” co-coach Ben Guy said.
Co-captain and Canadian international Matt Guest finally converted a chance, scoring a scrappy, hard-fought goal, to take a 1-0 lead into half-time. The dominance continued after the break, but unfortunately for Altona, so too did the inaccuracy in front of goal.
Southern never looked like scoring, but is known for being dangerous on the counter attack. Defenders Daniel O’Loughlin and veteran Mathew Higgins were solid in defence, while Mick Gallo, Tyson Priddle and co-captain, Steve Campbell, controlled the midfield with classy distribution and silky skills.
And with only minutes remaining on the clock, Southern intercepted an errant Altona pass in its defensive half, and shot at keeper Ben Oborn.
While the Altona goalie made a fantastic save, the rebound popped out to an unmanned Southern striker, who popped the ball in the back of the net to square the ledger.
Altona had several more chances, including a penalty corner on the siren, but was unable to capitalise on those scoring attempts.
“Given they were only promoted to this competition this year, to not pick up three points is incredibly disappointing,” co-coach Greg Drake said.
“We have a break for a couple of weeks now, so will be hitting the track very hard to ensure that we convert chances into the goals necessary for victory.”
Meanwhile, Altona’s women’s State League One side, promoted to the competition this season, recorded a 3-2 loss on Saturday.
Despite dominating the first 10 minutes, and creating three clear chances, the Altona women did not register this superiority on the scoreboard. Mentone settled after the first 10 minutes and wrestled control of the game, scoring a goal after just 15 minutes.
Another followed in quick succession and Mentone took a 2-0 lead into half-time. Altona conceded another goal in the second half, with Mentone seemingly home at a 3-0 margin, but two late goals, from Victorian representative Tegan Purser and teammate Bec Brennan closed the gap with five minutes to play.
But Altona was unable to salvage a draw.
Coach Marc Richardson was disappointed with the result.
“You can’t give anyone a three-goal start at this level, and two goals in 70 minutes of hockey is not good enough,” he said.
“We are not achieving our internal targets, so will be working hard in the coming weeks to rectify our deficiencies.”
