WA U21 Men Take Silver at National Champs

Western Australia’s men’s U21 side has won a silver medal at the 2015 National Carnival in Canberra after a 2-1 defeat against Victoria in the final on Sunday.

The WA team was looking to bounce back after Saturday’s 4-0 dead-rubber loss to Queensland. The previous encounter between WA and Victoria saw a scoreless draw played out in the first round of ‘Pool C’ fixtures.

Both sides went into the halftime break level at nil-all in what was a tightly contested match. Victoria made the breakthrough, early in the second half when Andrew Scanlon converted a short corner in the 33rd minute.

WAIS athlete Frazer Gerrard found a late leveller for WA in the third term, finding the back of the net on a short corner. Hopes of a gold medal were dashed however, when Scanlon scored his second goal of the game in the 49th minute. W

A continued to fight right until the end but would ultimately fall short of finding an equaliser.

Speaking after the match, WA U21 Men’s Head Coach Richard Davies praised both teams’ performance.

“We played well in the final. Victoria was just a really good team all tournament,” he said.

“I think they and us were probably the best two teams throughout the tournament so it wasn’t a surprise to see us both in the finals. In the end, they had that cutting edge up front which just edged it for them.

“It took us a while to get into the game. Defensively we were pretty good. They had a penalty stroke which they missed but apart from that, they only had 2 other chances so we did well to limit their attacking threat. We were pretty tight defensively all game.

“It took us a while to get into it in terms of our attacking. By the end of the game we were on top of Victoria but unfortunately we didn’t get the result,” he added.

Frazer Gerrard, who captained the team and scored WA’s goal in the final, was awarded the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his excellent performances throughout the week long championship.

“He has been brilliant for us all tournament in leading the midfield,” Davies said.

“He has a calm head on young shoulders which is a rare quality. All the other players in the team are able to benefit from his presence both on and off the pitch.”

Western Australia was also awarded the ‘Fair Play’ award for their overall sportsmanship at the National Championships.

For a number of WA athletes, it is the last time they will play at theUnder 21 level, but the future looks bright with the emergence of players like Brayden King (17) and Joe Kenny (18).

“It’s an exciting sign of things to come. We have six players who are moving on now after these championships but already the players who have come in and have been great.

“It’s an exciting group to work with” Davies surmised.

Earlier in the day, WA finished fourth at the Under 21 Women’s National Championship in Hobart, Tasmania. It was a courageous performance by the WA U21 Women’s state team, coming up against a very strong Queensland side which featured National Development squad athletes Madison Fitzpatrick, Savannah Fitzpatrick, Murphy Allendorf, Stephanie Kershaw and Renee Taylor.

Candyce Peacock was able to convert a short corner in the third term but the gap was too far to bridge, ending in a 4-1 result in favour of the Maroons.

– HockeyWA