Australian Youth Men Finish Seventh at World Champs

The Australian Youth men’s team has held off a late fight back from the United States of America to claim seventh position at the tournament with a nail-biting 5-4 win on Day 9 at Challenge Stadium.

It was a sweet reward for the Australians who had given their all during the tournament – only to be outclassed by Hungary in the quarters and death squeezed by Greece in the 5th versus 8th classification.

Anthony Hrysanthos continued his fantastic tournament with a brilliant display in the cage – with coach Chris Wybrow naming Hrysanthos and fellow shot stopper Sam Cocokios as two outstanding players – while also crediting centre backs Matthew Skinner and Justin Trabinger who again held firm in defence.

Wybrow said it was pleasing to finish on a high and said the boys had worked hard to reach their goals, but said the conflict of final year exams and the presence of some very advanced nations had made it very tough.

“Overall on the preparation we had and the team we had it was quite positive. We were a little bit inconsistent but our defence and centre back-goalkeeper combination of Trabinger, Skinner and Hrysanthos were excellent,” Wybrow said.

“Obviously we would have loved to get a medal but realistically, looking at the top four teams and the way they played yesterday, we’re behind that level.

“In saying that I think we definitely deserve to be fifth or sixth in this age group. After seeing our performance against Greece I think we showed that and deserve to be alongside them.

“There are a lot of guys here that will now go onto the FINA World Junior Championships in 2013 so I see some good things in the future for them.”

Wybrow also gave special mention to the sportsmanship of Cocokios who had been told to warm-up halftime, only for the Croa Sharks star to say he was happy to sit out as Hrysanthos was playing so well.

It was a tight opening term with neither team able to gain the ascendancy. Goalkeepers Hrysanthos and Garrett Danner (USA) stood tall as they combined with their centre backs to reduce the flow of goals.

Ciaran Wolohan finally opening the scoring at the two minute mark, courtesy of some sharp interchange passing with WAIS athlete Luke Pavillard at the top of the five metres.

The stalemate continued in the second with both teams unable to find their consistency. The nine consecutive days of intense water polo had seemed to taken its toll on the players.

Wolohan once again provided Australia’s best avenue to goal combining perfectly with Matthew Perrott on the right for the Aussie skipper to slot home from two metres.

Australia built on their 2-0 half time advantage with Blake Buckley converting another expertly taken lob – a mirror image of the one he scored against Greece on Saturday – to give Australia the 3-0 lead.

Their defence was a hallmark of their play – as Hrysanthos continued to dominate in the cage as he denied a USA goal until the four minute mark of the third quarter.

Ryder Roberts opened his team’s account with a right-arm rocket from the right to make it 3-1 at the last break, before the USA drew level through goals to Patrick Fellner and Kent Inou.

Gordon Marshall then burst onto the scene with a late double to counteract Chandler Jarrels-Stickney’s centre forward conversion on 3:15 to make it 5-4. The USA had one final chance to equalise but Hrysanthos again proved to be the hero swimming away with possession to give the Aussies their fifth win of the tournament.

Buckley, who totalled seven goals for the tournament, said it was great to finally post that ‘big game’ victory and said it had been a fantastic experience to play at a world championship level.

“It’s good to get a win in that last game to finish seventh and win did fight hard throughout the tournament, and the hard work actually did payoff in the end,” Buckley said.

“Hungary was probably the only game that we took a backwards step as you can’t take anything away from our game against Greece.

“We got the positive out of that game and we ended up with the goods today.”

Other WAIS athletes involved were Davis Verboon and Will MacKay.

– Water Polo Australia