| Waikato 7th place - Waikato team was a credit to the coaching staff by Vaughan Hilton 13 July 2003 |
NZ U18 National Tournament
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Waikato completed their run of good results with a well constructed 3-1 win over Bay of Plenty. |
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Two early Richard Petherick goals gave Waikato the edge in the match for 7th-8th. BJ Chris Fraser Cameron and Hayden all looked dangerous on attack andWessells, Richard and Tim controlled the midfield.
An ever improving Jordan in goal kept the Bay scoreless and he combined well with fullbacks CJ & Charlie to thwart any BOP attacks.A third Waikato goal by Hayden sealed the victory and Waikato remained unbeaten in normal time throughout the tournament. With all but 3 players still eligible next year, Waikato will remain a threat to all teams they play. In other matches, Wellington demolished Otago 7-1 in the playoff for 3rd with Bevan Leahy scoring the first of his 4 goals 20 seconds after coming on from the bench. Wgtn led 2-1 at half time and with Coach Scott Falconer resting several key players in the first half, unleashed them for a final 30minutes. Tim Giles, Wellingtons star inside found room in the 2nd half with ball of real quality being delivered by Chris Thomas and Shaun Cosgriff from the back and Jason Hilton and David Twigg in the midfield. Four set piece goals in quick succession left a large crowd wondering how Wellingtonmissed out on the final. The final between Nth Harbour and Auckland promised a lot, but delivered little as standout players K Fleming for Auckland and D Greene for Nth Harbour negated each other. Aklds young guns Simon Child and Steven O'Conner showed why they were selected for the NZ U16 team with solid games and only a well constructed PC by Akld shortly before half time broke the deadlock. Akld resorted to the long hitting defensive style that cost Waikato their lead agst Otago and once again the trailing team came from behind to equalise. Nth Harbour scoring the equaliser from a PC with only 2 minutes to go to take a share of 1st place. Wanganui who previously lost 2-1 to Wellington and Nth Harbour and unluckily lost 20-19 on strokes to a largely dissapointing Manawatu team to finish last, showed how even the competition was. Pat Barwicks Southern combined team also played some very good hockey and Otago with a fourth placing will be delighted. Nelson overcame Canterbury 1-0 to finish 5th and 6th respectively. After spending the week in Whangarei with the Waikato team, I am pleased to report that the on and off field demeanor of the Waikato team was a credit to the coaching staff, their parents and their association alike. I am now looking forward to the U15's in Tauranga and hopefully will be able to report Waikato success from there also. |
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