FFA National Junior Championships Day 6

New South Wales has claimed the inaugural Westfield National Girls Under-14 Junior title after moving five points clear of Northern NSW with their win over Victoria on day six in Canberra

New South Wales has claimed the inaugural Westfield National Girls Under-14 Junior title after moving five points clear of Northern NSW with their win over Victoria on day six in Canberra.

Goals either side of the break from Christina Palumbo and Alisha Bass sealed the three points and the subsequent national title for New South Wales on their final day of competition courtesy of their bye on day seven.

The ACT were the biggest moves on the day, jumping three places on the table from second last into third with a 3-0 victory over South Australia in the Girls 14 competition. ACT-s Meg McLaughlin scored in both halves along with Monica Cerro who found the target in the 34th minute to record their first win on home soil.

Northern NSW maintained their undefeated campaign with a 3-0 win over a Western Australia side who-s still hunting their maiden victory at the championships. The West were disheartened when Iesha Veness opened the scoring only minutes into the match before Adianna Jones scored ten minutes later to double the lead. Jones made it 3-0 when she notched her second on the match in the shadows of fulltime.

In the Boys 13 competition, New South Wales and Victoria will contest for the inaugural national title tomorrow when the two meet on the final day.

New South Wales came within second of claiming the national title as Victoria starred down the face of defeat until Ajdin Hrustic levelled the scores against Queensland with the final kick of the game to remain within reach of New South Wales.

Queensland shot out to a 3-0 lead within ten minutes of kick off after Mark Willett scored in the first minute followed by two goals from Conor O-Neill shocking the undefeated Victorians. Without dropping their heads, Victoria kick started their comeback in the 25th minute when Anthony Laus made it 3-1, followed by Dimitar Mitkov three minutes later and finally Hrustic in the 50th minute.

The ACT and Tasmania recorded their first points of the championships when the two sides played out a 1-all draw. Jesse Curran opened the scoring for Tasmania with a perfectly executed free-kick from the left hand sideline found the top right corner. The ACT pegged back the scores when Alex Popovich found the back of the net in the final ten minutes to salvage a point.

Like the previous match, Western Australia and South Australia also finished 1-all as both sides remain mid table. Tom Beadling gave his Western Australian side the lead early in the second half in the 28th minute before their southern counterparts levelled the scores in the 39th minute through Christos Poundenis.         

Under 13 Boys

Queensland 3 (M. Willett 1-, C. O-Neill 4-, 7-) Victoria 3 (A. Laus 25-, D. Mitkov 28-, A. Hrustic 50-), New South Wales 2 (B. Appiah 14-, S. Berti 47-) Northern NSW 0, Tasmania 1 (J. Curran 7-) ACT 1 (A. Popvich 44-), Western Australia 1 (T. Beadling 28-) South Australia 1 (C. Poundenis 39-)

Under 14 Girls

New South Wales 2 (C. Palumbo 15-, A. Bass 28-) Victoria 0, ACT 3 (M. McLaughlin 18-, 27-, M. Cerro 34-) South Australia 0, Northern NSW 3 (I. Veness 2-, A. Jones 13-, 49-) Western Australia 0, Queensland - Bye