Livestream: Hockey U15 Australian Championships day 5, schedule, fixture
The Australian U15 Hockey Championships medal matches have been decided. See which teams made it through. WATCH EVERY REPLAY
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The Hockey Australia U15s National Championships have reached the pointy end of the tournament.
On Wednesday, teams fought it out for a place in Thursday’s medal matches.
If you missed the action, you can rewatch every contest from Day 5 below.
REPORTS AND RELAYS
Girls, Class 11/12, Vic Development 1 drew TAS 1
This match was played between Victoria Development and Tasmania in the girls competition.
It was an even affair with both sides scoring early in the first half.
Victoria Development player Georgia Taylor shot in a field goal in the eighth minute.
Tasmanian Ella Scolyer replicated the feat in the 12th minute for the 1-1 draw.
Boys, Semi Final 2, NSW State 5 defeated WA Gold 0
NSW State showed top form in the preliminary rounds to finish top of Pool B with an undefeated 5-0 run.
Western Australia Gold finished second to Victoria in Pool B with two wins and two draws.
NSW went into this late afternoon game armed with one of the leading goal scorers in the competition in Joshua Robson, who had netted seven goals.
Western Australia had their own dynamo in Charlie McCarthy who came in with three goals under his belt.
Robson was the first to score for NSWS in the semi with a field goal in the ninth minute.
His teammate Kane Nutley added another in the 27th with James Coleman contributing off a penalty corner in the 48th.
Oskar Smith then struck in the 58th to deliver NSWS a 4-0 win and a spot in the gold medal play-off.
Girls, Semi Final 2, NSW 0 defeated VIC 0 (NSW won 5-2 on penalties)
NSW state have been one of the form teams of the girls competition and went into their semi-final as Pool B leaders with four wins and just one loss to their name in the preliminary rounds.
Victoria, however, had finished with the same win-loss record but second in Pool A behind the undefeated Queensland Maroon side.
NSW also boasted two of the best goal scorers in the competition in Martina Williams and Lahni Woodcock, who both racked up six goals each in their rounds matches.
But neither side was able to light the scoreboard in the first half of the torrid match-up watched by a big crowd in Bathurst.
Both sides played strong defence with attackers thwarted time and time again in the deck game half.
Scoreless at full time, the thrilling game was decided in a shootout.
It was here NSW shone, to advance into the tournament decider with their 0-0 (5-2 SO) win.
“I think they (NSW players) were a little rushed, nervous today and it showed,’’ said NSW coach James Birkfield.
“But they are settled now. I think they are in a great headspace heading into the final.’’
Birkfield said his side had only done around half an hour’s penalty shootout practice before the game.
“We didn’t really expect it to end like that. But we did have a plan if it did.’’
Boys, Semi Final, VIC 4 lost to TAS 5
Victoria earned their spot in the semis by finishing top of Pool A with three wins and a draw in the preliminary rounds.
Tasmania made it through after finishing second in Pool B with two wins, two draws and a loss.
Tasmania’s top scorers heading into the semis were Oliver Stebbings with six goals and Oscar Sproule with four.
Victoria had Emerson Hodder as their lead scorer on three goals.
In an action-packed match, Victoria went 3–0 up early thanks to a field goal from Joel Taylor in the 15th, success off a penalty corner for Duncan Jackson in the 20th and a field goal from Domenic Bozzone in the 24th.
Tasmania then responded with a four-goal blitz courtesy of Angus McMullen in the 27th, Rhys Wilkinson in the 29th, and Sproule in the 32nd and 34 minutes to go 4-3 up.
Sam Grandfield then shot in a field goal in the 52nd for Tasmania with Victorian Jackson scoring off a penalty in the 54th.
Tasmania now enter the decider.
Tasmania coach Stephen McMullan said he was delighted with the fighting spirit shown by his team in the crucial match.
“It was a great win, we are really happy with that and the boys deserve it,“ he said.
“It was a terrific fightback from our guys. It’s the third time in the tournament we have come from behind.
“There were so many good goals and Victoria really were excellent early.
“But we had that three goal purple patch which really turn the game around.”
Girls, Play-off, WA Black 1 defeated NT 1 (WA Black won 3-2 on penalties)
Western Australia Black finished third in Pool A, which was dominated by the Queensland Maroon side.
Western Australia came into the semis with two wins and three losses under their belt.
Northern Territory finished fourth after the rounds in Pool B.
It was young NT gun Romy Whittaker who scored first off a penalty corner in the 20th minute.
Ella Frost then equalised from the field in the 24th to send the teams into halftime locked at 1-1.
After a scoreless second half, the match went into a shootout with WA taking the honours.
Girls, Semi Final 1, QLD Maroon 0 lost to WA Gold 1
Western Australia Gold earned their spot in this semi-final clash by finishing second to NSW in the rounds with an impressive 4–1 win loss record.
Queensland Maroon finished top of Pool B and were undefeated across their five pools matches.
The Maroon side also boasted two of the top goal scorers in the competition in Sofia Papantoniou and Kara Bradley, with seven and six goals respectively.
But in a tight and hotly contested battle, neither team could break the deadlock in the first half, with strong defence on display from both sides.
The deadlock was finally broken late in the second half by the Western Australians when Eliza Swain scored from a penalty corner in the 54th minute to give her side a spot in the tournament decider.
“They are a nice cohesive unit this group and they work really hard for each other,” said WA coach Julie DeSilva.
“And they have learned key lessons during the event, how to cope with different situations at crucial times which is great for 15-year-olds.”
DeSilva said her side is now determined to go one better than they did at the last under 15 Australian championships in 2019.
“We got into the grand final then as well. It was decided on a penalty shootout and we lost,” she said.
“We will be working hard not to put our goalies in that situation again.
Girls, Play-off, QLD Gold 5 defeated SA 0
Queensland Gold went into this match having finished third in Pool B with three wins and two losses.
SA finished fourth in Pool A with one win, two draws and two losses.
After a defensive first half, the teams went into halftime without a goal between them.
Queensland Gold then opened the scoring in the 40th minute when Charlie Jackson scored of a penalty corner.
This sparked a flurry of scoring from the Queenslanders with Talia Parry scoring off a penalty corner in the 47th and then a field goal in the 52nd.
Lara Pyle then chipped in for a field goal in the 58th and Jackson added her second in the 60th minute to secure Queensland a resounding victory.
Girls, Play-off, ACT 2 defeated TAS 0
Tasmania went through the rounds without a win to finish sixth in Pool A.
The ACT had one win in Pool B to finish fifth out of six teams.
In the second game of the day at Bathurst, the ACT scored first in the eighth minute from a Liesl Toime field goal.
Lucy Neely then extended the score to 2-0 from the field in the 37th minute.
Tasmania were unable to penetrate the ACT defence to remain scoreless in the match.
Girls, Play-off, NSW Blue 2 defeated VIC Development 0
The NSW Blue side started the day off on a high note with a convincing 2-0 victory over Victoria Development in Bathurst
Faith Thompson opened the scoring for NSW in the 17th minute.
Mikaela-Jayne Kennedy then extended the lead in the 60th off a field goal.
MORE U15 ACTION:
2021 U15 AUSTRALIAN HOCKEY GIRLS POOLS
Pool A: NSW Blue, Queensland Maroons, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia Black.
Pool B: ACT, NSW State, Northern Territory, Queensland Gold, Victoria Development, Western Australia Gold.
2021 U15 AUSTRALIAN HOCKEY BOYS POOLS
Pool A: NSW Blue, Queensland Gold, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia Gold.
Pool B: ACT, NSW state, Queensland Maroons, Tasmania, Victoria Development, Western Australia Black
Originally published as Livestream: Hockey U15 Australian Championships day 5, schedule, fixture
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