Five WAIS men’s water polo scholarship holders have made a strong start to their junior world championship campaign in Croatia with a win and a draw from their opening two pool matches.
Aaron Younger, James Fannon, Nicholas Redbond, Edward Slade and Perry Short all featured for Australia in their emphatic 15-1 win over Slovakia in what was considered one of the strongest performances of the round.
Australia coach Simon Daley said he was pleased to get off to a strong start in the competition.
It’s always good to get over the first hurdle,” he said. “We did what we intended and that was to defend well. The first game can be tough and Slovakia is a dark horse but it was a tremendous confidence builder for what’s to come.”
Aaron Younger struck twice for the Australians whilst Nicholas Redbond and James Fannon both pitched in with a goal each.
Australia recorded a 9-9 draw in its second pool match against Canada with Matt Giles equalizing with just 12 seconds remaining to keep the side unbeaten in the tournament.
After making a slow start, the Australians pulled back into the contest and edged ahead for the first time in the third quarter breaking out to a 8-6 lead before Canada stormed back on a three goal rally.
Australia was under pressure again before capitalizing on a quick break away to set up Giles’ last gasp heroics.
Having trailed with seconds to go, head coach Simon Daley admitted he was pleased to reach full-time with a point.
“Canada played very well and all credit to them. They wanted to win much more than us today.”
“We may have under-estimated them but we will only learn from our mistakes. Fortunately we gained the draw. All credit to the boys because they never gave up,” Daley said.
Australia’s next match is against France – who are yet to record a win in the tournament – and WAIS men’s water polo coach Paul Oberman believes the team will bounce back to winning ways, following a strong preparation for the championships.
“They should rebound tonight and have a good solid game against France then the clash with Croatia should determine top spot in the group,” Oberman said.
“The WAIS boys have had a very good preparation playing significant minutes in big games including this year’s National League finals series, Australian Under 23 Club Championships and their regular training with the National Men’s team players at WAIS.”
“Aaron Younger had a very valuable experience being a key contributor in the winning Australian Men’s team at the World University Games, so the boys know what it is like to play composed and get the result,” he said.
