Jack Gillingham and his NSW/ACT Under 16s team performed admirably during the National Championships held last week in Brisbane.
In their opening clash in Division 2, NSW/ACT had an impressive win over Northern Territory by 54 points, courtesy of an 11 goal second half.
The side found the going a bit tougher against Queensland in their second game, eventually losing in a thriller by 3 points. Inaccurate kicking in front of goal (four straight behinds) in the dying stages cost the Rams, after holding the narrowest of leads at three-quarter time. Five goals from Lewis Moss helped the Northerners to victory.
More heartbreak was to follow for the Rams in another tight scoring contest. In their final pool game, they fell short by 9 points against a strong Tasmanian outfit, led by Maverick Weller who gained 27 possessions and two late goals. Gillingham had a strong influence on the game kicking two out his sides ten goals (equal top goal scorer for the Rams), in a more accurate display in front of goal.
Losing these last two games by a combined total of 2 goals, prevented the Rams from opportunity to play off in the Division 2 Grand Final. Tasmania and Northern Territory, instead, have that honour on AFL Grand Final Day.
Vic Metro and Western Australia were again dominant in Division 1 and will share the same honour in playing off for the Division 1 title.
Congratulations again are extended to Jack on a successful carnival. The AFL North Coast hope this is a springboard to greater achievements for Jack and those following in his footsteps.
Full results are below:
NSW/ACT: 2.1 8.4 13.10 19.11 (125)
Northern Territory: 6.2 10.3 11.3 11.5 (71)
GOALS
NSW/ACT: Bray 4, Stubbs 4, Murphy 2, Stevens 2, Miles 2, Cole, Lahy, May, O’Connell, Kickett
Northern Territory: Hampton 3, May 2, Rossives 2, Motlop 2, Taylor, Lawler
BEST
NSW/ACT: Stubbs, Miles, Langford, Stevens, Murphy, Maloney, Rowland
Northern Territory: Schaper, Hampton, Taylor, Erlandsen, Johnson, Gordon
QUEENSLAND 4.2 6.9 7.14 10.17 (77)
NSW/ACT 2.5 6.6 8.9 10.14 (74)
GOALS
Queensland: Moss 5; Shreeve 2; Liddy, Mel-le, Kirkpatrick
NSW/ACT: Lloyd 3; Brain 2; Miles, Murphy, Stubbs, Hancock, Stevens.
BEST
Queensland: Shreeve, Liddy, Malis, Ruttledge, Holland, Moss
NSW/ACT: Murphy, Langford, Cole, Lahy, Rowland, Maloney
Tasmania 11.8 (74) def NSW/ACT 10.5 (65)
GOALS
Tasmania: Green 3, Weller 2, Riewoldt 2, Moore, Russell, Owen, Cox-Goodyear
NSW/ACT: Bray 2, Gillingham 2, Aylett, Murphy, O’Connell, Stevens, Stubbs, Maloney
BEST
Tasmania: Weller, Mott, Gillbee, Rundle, Russell, Clarke
NSW/ACT: Langford, O’Connell, Schulz, Bray
Last Modified on 05/08/2008 17:29