Livestream hockey: Under 18s to watch at Victorian Junior Country Champs

The next generation of Victoria’s regional hockey stars are showing their stuff at Footscray for the U18 championships. Here’s the updates and how to watch live

Central Victoria's Campbell Evans featured for the state team at the under 15 national championships earlier this year. Photo: ClickIn Focus

Some of Victoria’s finest young junior hockey players are in action today on day 2 of the state’s junior country championships.

Twelve teams (seven boys and five girls) have travelled to Footscray for the under-18 competition.

WATCH THE U18 ACTION LIVE HERE ON SUNDAY IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

>> And if you miss a game, bookmark this page and check back for the replays after the tournament

Boys gold medal: Central Vic 2 Albury Wodonga 1

A hard fought gold medal game has seen Central Vic come away with a tournament win.

Aaron Foy and Tyler Green got on the scoresheet for their side to write themselves into the history books.

Seth Albon gave Central Vic a chance but in the end it wasn’t enough.

Girls gold medal: Albury Wodonga 1 Goulburn Valley 0

Lillian Eggleton will have plenty to tell her friends about after leading Albury Wodonga to a gold medal.

Eggleton scored the only goal of the game in a tense final where on another day more goals could have easily been scored.

Boys: North Central 3 Sunraysia 1

North Central have ended its pool games on a high with a strong 3-1 win over Sunraysia.

Hamish Archibald, Taine Bishop and Tyler Green got on the scoresheet to hand their side the win.

Meanwhile, Toby Eglington scored what turned out to be a consolation for his side.

Girls, semi-final: Goulburn Valley 1 East Gippsland 0

Goulburn Valley have moved through to the gold medal game with a narrow victory over East Gippsland.

Courtney Thompson was the hero for her side scoring the game’s only goal.

Girls: Albury Wodonga 7 North Central 1

Albury Wodonga has show why it is one of the teams to beat heading into the finals with a 7-1 thumping of North Central.

Michaela Franks and Avie Liley both scored doubles to give their side a massive confidence boost for the rest of the day.

Shannon Dicks, Ulrika Wild and Matilda Willinck also found the back of the net.

Jordyn Atkinson was the only goal scorer for North Central.

Boys: Albury Wodonga 2 Ballarat 1

Albury Wodonga has come out on top in a thrilling contest with Ballarat scoring a late penalty to secure the win.

Campbell Cull and Brodie Hamilton were on the scoresheet for the winners in a thrilling contest which was played at a terrific pace.

Daniel Walsh was the goalscorer for Ballarat.

Girls: East Gippsland 2 Sunraysia 0

East Gippsland has put itself in a strong position to feature at the pointy end of the tournament with a strong 2-0 win to start the second day of competition.

Mikayla McDonald and Charlie Tratford both got on the scoresheet as East were able to make the most of their opportunities in the attacking half.

UNDER 18 BOYS TO WATCH

James Kemp (Ballarat): A strong midfielder who is as reliable as they come. His passing ability can help control the tempo of a game.

Rhett Vaivars (Goulburn Valley): A great goalkeeper who is coming into his own in the local men‘s competition. Vaivars is making every post a winner in dominating the Circle. Both with the mitt and with the stick he is hard to get past and look at him for trying to keep the Maroons in plenty of matches.

Toby Edlington (Sunraysia): Edlington could well have a strong say in his team’s performances this weekend as he is brilliant in front of goal. One of the stars of the local competition he will be looking to take his game to the next level.

Ed DeSalis (Ballarat): A strong defender who thrives in the big moments. Opposition attackers will know when they’ve played against DeSalis.

Campbell Cull (Albury-Wodonga): A defensive minded player, Cull has shown he can play in the back line but also push up into the midfield.

Campbell Evans (Central Vic): Evans enters the tournament off the back of a strong showing at the under 15 national championships where he was the number goalkeeper in a team which finished with a bronze medal.

Thomas Kerr (Goulburn Valley): The Echuca product is a talented player who finds his way through midfield well. His distribution is amazing for a player of his age. One of just three players returning after winning the gold medal in 2019.

Tyson Jones (Ballarat): He is expected to form a strong partnership with Kemp and their performance levels could determined how successful their side is this weekend.

Declan Anderson (Central Vic): Recently made his Victorian Premier League debut for Essendon after returning from the national under 18 championships.

Riegardt Grobler (Sunraysia): Another one of Sunraysia’s players who has shown an ability to find the ability to find the back of the net with ease. He has also started the season in strong form for his local club.

Seth Leach (Albury-Wodonga): Leach will shoulder a lot of responsibility in front of goal for his side as a player with a consistent ability to find the back of the net.

Spencer Ward (Ballarat): A defender who will continue to frustrate opposition teams throughout the weekend.

UNDER 18 GIRLS TO WATCH

Charisma Burns (Albury-Wodonga): The team from the state’s north will be hoping, Burns can find the back of the net with consistency across the weekend.

Zoe Ross (Central Vic): The young gun recently made the step up to A grade locally and didn’t look out of place.

Sarah Chapman (Sunraysia): Predominantly used as a striker, Chapman also has the ability to play anywhere across the front line. If she’s given the chance she will usually find the back of the net.

Abigail Wilkinson (Albury-Wodonga): Along with Burns, Wilkinson will help to create a strong pairing which opposition teams could have a tough time stopping.

Emily Anderson (Central Vic): Another player who made her senior A grade debut recently and will be looking to impose her talent on the competition.

Hockey Victoria operations manager Ben Seccull said he was looking forward to an exciting weekend after the disappointment of missing out on last year’s tournament.

“This is really the only opportunity a lot of players have to compete against teams from other regions because a lot of them play locally,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing regional hockey come together again after a tough 12 months. There is plenty of excitement from right across the state.

“There is going to be a lot of talented players in action with some of the athletes recently involved in our state teams who travelled to the under-18 national championships.

“A number of these players have also been selected in their zone teams to participate in the Junior State Championships in Bendigo and Shepparton later this year.”

LIVE STREAM SCHEDULE

9am: East Gippsland v Sunraysia (Girls)

9.50am: Albury Wodonga v Ballarat (Boys)

10.40am: Albury Wodonga v North Central (Girls)

11.30am: Ballarat v East Gippsland (Boys)

12.20pm: Girls semi-final

1.10pm: Central Vic v Sunraysia (Boys)

2pm: Girls gold medal match

2.50pm: Boys gold medal match