U16 Girls Competition off to tight start

This morning Diocesan Aquatic Centre saw the opening matches of the U16 Girls competition get underway. 

In the first round, Waitakere Gold edged over Waikato Girls at half time to a 5-2 lead. Waikato fought back hard and held Waitakere Gold scoreless in the second half, but were unable to to pull it off in the final quarter, falling to Waitakere 4-5. Leading scorers: Waikato #10 K. Lush (2 goals), Waitakere #13 S. Jones (2 goals).

Similarly, Coach Robbie Tindall and the North Harbour U16A Girls managed to get ahead early against NSW Country. The scoreline read 5-2 in favour of the hometown Auckland girls by the end of the first quarter. The NSW Country girls fought hard with #7 K. Clague top scoring for her team with 3 goals, but the Harbour girls managed to pull away with the win 7-4, thanks to #13 Liana Dance (3 goals) and #7 Jess Marsden (2 goals). 

In their second game of the day, Waiakto Girls again fell short to NSW CHS, despite by an impressive 5 goals from #7 Emmerson Houghton and 3 goals from #10 K. Lush. NSW CHS displayed a real team effort, with goals from #3 G. Southern, #5 N. Schubert, #7 C. Nugent, #8 A. Simshauser, #10 J. Cusack (1 goal each), #11 B. Humby (2 goals) and #4 K. Rogers leading the team with 4 goals. Final Score: NSW CHS 11 - Waikato 8. 

In yet another closely fought game between two Aussie sides, the Canberra Academy A girls managed to edge away with the win over NSW Country 5-4, due to Canberra’s #5 T. Sinclair top scoring the match with 3 goals to her name. 

Meanwhile, the U16 Boys competition at Dio wasn’t as close as the girls. Dominance from several sides saw Tauranga A claiming victory 25-2 over Canberra Academy B. Marist Red saw a similar dominant scoreline over Sydney Uni Pirates at 22-2. The Canberra Academy A side were, however, able to show their strength over Waikato winning 12-2. Leading scorers in the boys competition today were Tauranga A #10 J. Pickering, Canberra Academy A #8 D. McNair, and Marist Red #7 J. Blundell, each with an impressive 5 goals each.