Big V make finals in the boys and girls
It was a perfect day for Victoria in the finals in Ballarat as not one but two teams became champions. Here’s a recap of the day.
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For the first time since Covid, Victoria is back where it belongs, on top of School Sport footy in under-15.
Victoria Navy claimed both the boys and girls titles, beating Western Australia and Queensland in close contests at the City Oval in Ballarat.
It is the first time since 2019 both teams have been able to win the trophy.
In the boys the contest should have been over earlier but a wasteful Navy team kept WA in the hunt until the end.
Victoria Navy got on top early, kicking the first two goals to set up a lead of 16 points at the end of the first term.
The lead was extended to 19 in the second quarter before WA came back in the third term to reduce the margin to eight points at the final change, 4. 8. (32) to 4. 0. (24)
WA mounted another challenge late, kicking the only goal of the final term, to reduce the margin to three points with a few minutes to go but Victoria Navy held on.
Late misses to Victoria Navy enabled the team to run down the clock and win.
“WA just never gave up, they were awesome,” Victoria Navy coach Sean Kavanagh said.
“I was really proud of the boys structurally and we trusted the process.”
Navy won all five games in the tournament, beating their Victoria rivals White in the semi’s, after winning all three pool games, before beating WA in the final.
White, who were in WA’s group, lost to them during the pool stages before falling to Navy.
Kavanagh admitted the team used White’s knowledge of WA to help them prepare to take on the Sandgropers.
He added every player played their part in the win.
“I can’t individualise and everyone played their part and had their moments,” Kavanagh said.
“I’m just really proud of the boys.”
In the girls final, Victoria Navy bounced back from a first-up loss to Queensland in the pool match to beat them when it counted.
In an impressive defensive performance the Victorian side kept Queensland to one goal in the final while kicking three themselves in the 3. 2 (20) to 1. 2 (8) result.
After getting the lead early the defence of the Navy team shone through in the second half.
The team kept Queensland goalless in the second half while kicking out to a two-goal lead by three quarter time.
Victoria never looked likely to lose in the final term, despite the scoreline being small.
Victoria coach Andrew Fisher said the team learnt a lot from the first loss to make sure it was better prepared to take on the Maroons the second time around.
“We noticed our tackle pressure was down in the first game, we had 23 tackles,” he said.
“Leading into our cross over final we had 62.
“We progressively got better and better as the tournament went on and it showed today.”
Fisher added it took time for the girls to adjust to the level of football they were playing against, which meant the team got better as the tournament progressed.
Victoria Navy did not lose a game after falling to Queensland in game one.
The coach was proud of how the girls were resilient after losing early.
“I think there were two things we focused on,” Fisher said.
“Number one thing we focused on was the phrase ‘do it again.’
“If you make a mistake, it’s a learning opportunity and you do it again.
“The other one was celebration.
“We wanted to make sure we celebrated everything (in the team).”
Day 4
Victoria Navy is the pride of the under-15 School Sport AFL titles in Ballarat after both the boys and girls teams made the final.
In the girls, the team will take on Queensland in the decider after beating New South Wales by 29 points in the semi-final on Thursday.
After a close contest in the first half, Victoria Navy got on top in the third quarter, kicking four goals to one to lead by 29 points at the final change.
The home team maintained the margin in the final term, to progress to the final.
Maya Duane kicked two goals for the girls in the contest.
Victoria Navy will now take on Queensland on Saturday morning for the gold medal.
The boys Victoria Navy team will look to do the same in their final after beating Victoria White in the semi.
After an unbeaten campaign, with three wins, the Navy team made it four with a strong win over their Victorian rivals.
In breezy conditions, Navy used the wind to their advantage in the final term to kick three goals to win by 25 points.
Early on it was White who led, using the breeze to kick the only goal in the first term to lead by six points.
Navy responded with two goals in the second term to lead by 12 points at the main break before holding White to four behinds when the side had the breeze in the third term.
Navy got on top in the final quarter to now face Western Australia in the decider.
WA defeated South Australia in a nail biter by three points in their semi to progress.
Victoria Navy’s Mitch Toner and Matthew D‘Amico kicked two goals in the win.
All teams will now have a day off on Friday before finals are held on Saturday in Ballarat.
Day 1 and 2 wrap
Victoria’s boys teams could be on track to face each other in the final after a strong start to the under-15 national School Sport titles in Ballarat.
Fielding two teams in the competition, in Pool A and Pool B, both have won comprehensively in their opening two games to be on track for top spot.
Victoria Navy have been the benchmark in Pool A, smashing last year’s winners South Australia first up, on Sunday, by 65 points, before keeping Tasmania goalless on Monday in a 132-point win.
Against the Croweaters, Victoria opened up a 33-point lead at halftime before kicking seven goals to two in the second half to win by more than 10 goals.
Darcy Harrington kicked four goals with Mitch Toner and Cody Walker, son of former AFL player Andrew, kicking two each.
Harrington added another four against Tasmania as the Navy team kicked 20 goals to just one behind for the Devils.
Toner and Arki Butler kicked three goals each in the 132-point win.
The team now faces New South Wales in their final pool game and should take top spot with either a win or a small loss with their percentage being far better than the Blues and South Australia right now, who have one win each.
In Pool B, Victoria White is currently top but will have to face a stern test in Western Australia to stay on top.
Both the Sandgropers and the Big V are 2-0 with big wins over Queensland and Western Australia.
The Big V White defeated ACT by 102 points on Sunday before beating Queensland by 40 points on Monday.
Thomas Lincoln has been the leading goalkicker for White with six goals, including four against the ACT.
The team will now take on WA to decide who will finish on top.
In the girls, both teams will need results to go their own way to qualify for the semi-finals.
Victoria White were beaten by South Australia on day one by 44 points with the Big V kicking two goals in the contest.
On Monday, the team lost to ACT by one point, missing two chances in the final term to overcome the opposition.
White now needs South Australia to beat both New South Wales and ACT before beating New South Wales by a large margin to finish second on percentage with one win.
In Group A, Victoria Navy need to beat Western Australia, on Monday, and Tasmania on Wednesday to qualify for the semi’s.
A loss to Western Australia would leave the team needing to beat Tasmania and rely on Queensland beating WA to qualify for the semi’s.
The team lost to Queensland by one point on Sunday, with inaccuracy costing the team dearly.
Queensland kicked 6. 1. (37) to 5. 6. (36) to win their first game of the tournament.
THE STAR PERFORMERS SO FAR
* Mia Geere kicking three goals for Queensland, half teams score, against Victoria Navy.
*Enah Desic being among the best three players for Queensland in the first two games.
*Imogen Morse kicking all three goals for ACT against Victoria White.
*Ella Kinslor kicking three goals for New South Wales against ACT.
*Darcy Harrington kicking four goals in both games for Victoria Navy.
*Thomas Lincoln kicking four goals for Victoria White against ACT.
*Thatcher Simmons kicking five goals, the most in the tournament, for WA against Queensland.
*Lorenze Cole kicking four goals for WA against Queensland.
Grand final wins and a shock or two
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