U16 National Champs - The Halfway Point

Tasmania’s girls and boys Under 16s have reached the halfway mark of the Hockey Australia Championship in Adelaide with both teams displaying great talent and pushing some of the big states.

Neither side has been able to manage a win after three games, but have come close and are going into their rest day with plenty of momentum.

The Tassie girls opened the tournament with the first game against Queensland Maroon, and the 8-2 scoreline doesn’t show how close they were for much of the game. Harriet Sproule was named best player for Tasmania, with both Sproule and Frances Boyles scoring in game one.  

The boy’s team started strongly against top ranked Western Australia Gold, and didn’t let an early goal throw them off. Trent Smith levelled the score with a great field goal, with Peter Mackey making another excellent effort in the third quarter. The team were right in the match until late when weary legs saw a couple of late WA goals to finish down 5-2. Arb Lockhart battled all day for Tassie with a broken wrist after a fall early in the game, with Cruze Gray and Will Enkelaar also among the team’s best.

On day two the Tasmanian girls went one up with PC conversion from Lucy Meikle against South Australia, and looked like they may finish on top before two late goals from the home team stole the points.  Sproule had a goal overturned, a tomahawk hit the post and Tasmania failed to convert a stroke, despite having the better of the game for three quarters, the final result went to South Australia.  Tasmania Player of the Match went to Lucy Meikle, with Claudia Windsor and Meg Brewer contributing strongly.  

Day two for the boys was up against the might of Queensland Maroon, but they took the game right up to them from the first whistle and were unlucky not to get on the board early. The Tasmanian attack and defence were linking well and a couple of chances went begging at key moments. They held strong until deep into the third quarter when Queensland managed to slip one by the keeper. They battled right to the final whistle, losing by three goals, with Jayden Charles solid in goals, Joey Bush causing headaches in defence and attack and Zeppelin Barnard holding strong.

The Tassie girls started strongly against Western Australia Gold on Wednesday and were unlucky not to be ahead early. WA fought back to take a three goal lead into half time, but Tasmania rallied and scored two goals in six minutes through Claudia Windsor and Lucy Meikle. Monique Watson was solid between the posts and pulled off a great save on a penalty stroke at a key stage of the match. They worked hard but finished down 5-2. Meikle was again named Tasmania's Player of the Match, with solid efforts from Sophie West and Monique Watson.

The boy’s game against Victoria Development on Wednesday started with some positional changes, but the Tassie side were looking strong and moving the ball well. A number of the younger players were stepping up and it looked like only a matter of time before a score for Tassie but the ball wouldn’t cross the line. The Vics squeezed a PC goal in on the stroke of three quarter time, and with two senior players down with injury, Tasmania lacked the legs to get one back for a draw, finishing down a goal. Fergus Doerner stepped up in defence, while Nathan Kuun and Maitland Sayer both made excellent contributions for Tasmania.

Photos can currently be found through Click InFocus's Facebook, with more to be shared via Hockey Tasmania later next week.

Written by Luke Sayer