Brisbane South and the Gold Coast will face off for the Youth Girls Champs Div 1 title tomorrow.
Both sides have finished on three wins and one loss after the four preliminary games, with Brisbane South on top with superior percentage.
The Gold Coast Sunsets are the only team to have beaten the Vixens, in a thriller on
Wednesday night decided by just six points, with their loss coming at the hands of North Queensland on Friday.
The Sunshine Coast Storm finished third in Division 1, with two wins and two losses, in just their second year in the Youth Girls State Competition.
North Queensland claimed an upset win over the Sunsets, just holding them off, showing some physical presence in defence.
Brisbane North finished on a high on Day three with a 10-point win over the North Queenslanders.
Queensland U/17 Youth Girls Championships – Division 2
Teams from the Darling Downs, Townsville, Capricornia, Mackay and Wide Bay were set to go to battle in Division Two, and they didn’t disappoint with quality football in every game.
GAME ONE – CAPRICORNIA COBRAS (10.7.67) def MACKAY VIPERS (1.1.7)
Both teams went hard at the ball creating a midfield contest that would see both teams remain scoreless for the majority of the first half. Chances were hard to come by, but Mackay grabbed the first goal after some excellent rebound footy off half-back. Capricornia didn’t waste time in their reply, quickly slotting three goals to take the lead going into half time. Taivia Dunne was instrumental at the stoppages with her exceptional clearance work proving the game changer.
The second half was all Capricornia as they piled on six goals to take the game away from Mackay. There was clear skill and effort from Mackay when they were able to break the forward press of Capricornia but players like Tashina Ketchup were able to kill the attack at half-back and send the ball back up the field.
Capricornia Coach Ben Hopkins:
“We like to put a lot of pressure on the footy, we want to tackle and make sure we’re the ones with our heads over the football.”
GAME TWO – DARLING DOWNS DEMONS (3.1.19) def WIDE BAY WILDCATS (0.0.0)
Darling Downs team on a Wide Bay side which was full of class in game two, and it was clear that goals were going to be hard to come by. With both midfields full of talent, the ball went back and forth along the middle third of the ground with neither side willing to give an inch. Players like Michelle McCormack for Darling Downs and Claudia Wharton for Wide Bay set the example as the game looked set to go into half time with no score until a 50m penalty saw Darling Downs kick the first goal of the match.
The Demons defence took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half. They out-marked and spoiled their hearts out in an attempt to keep the Wildcats scoreless, which they achieved. At the other end, the Demons were hitting their targets by foot, which allowed for quick ball movement inside forward 50. Not to be out done by the Wide Bay defence which restricted the Demons to just one goal.
Demons Coach Jeff Neumann:
“We built the team around defence.”
“It’s not just three players, though, it’s the whole team that works well defensively.”
GAME THREE – CAPRICORNIA COBRAS (6.5.41) def TOWNSVILLE EAGLES (3.1.19)
Capricornia took on Townsville in their second game of the day and with both teams evenly matched in size, the game was a physical affair. There was a clear contrast in game plans with Townsville looking to utilise their run off halfback through players like Delma Gisu and Pamai Dau who have speed to burn while Capricornia preferred to kick long to their tall targets. Townsville looked the stronger in the first half going into the break with a 13-point lead.
Capricornia came back after the break, with Hannah Davidson a clear standout with her tackling key key in shutting down the Eagle’s run. This allowed the Cobras more of the football and led to a massive five goal half while keeping the Eagles scoreless in the second half.
Capricornia coach Ben Hopkins:
“If we can put the two halves together, hopefully we can run over DD (Darling Downs) and take a spot in the finals.”
GAME FOUR – WIDE BAY WILDCATS (4.5.29) def MACKAY VIPERS (0.1.1)
Wide Bay were quick to seize control of the final match of day one as their talented midfield, lead by Claudia Wharton and ruckman Sarah Marscke, dominated the clearances. Mackay stayed in the game with courageous second and third efforts forcing the Wildcats into mistakes and keeping the game within reach. Wildcats midfielder Lucy Thompson was a standout kicking two goals and winning plenty of contested ball.
The second half saw Mackay’s defence tighten up on the back of a stellar display from fullback Jordan Smyth. Smyth’s contested marking ability and booming right foot kept Wide Bay to just two scoring shots in the second half.
The playoffs will start at 9:30am tomorrow, with the schedule as follows:
9:30am Brisbane North v Mackay
11:00am: Sunshine Coast v North Queensland
11:00am Townsville v Wide Bay
12:20pm Darling Downs v Capricornia
1:40pm Brisbane South v Gold Coast
If you’re heading down to the Youth Girls State Championships, don’t forget to tag your social media posts with #girlsplaytoo.
