During the morning match the boys took it up to Victoria and were highly competitive.  Some excellent keeping early on by Jayden Pearson off short corners set the tone for the match and this was matched by the teams’ determination and defensive efforts throughout.  When the chances presented they counterattacked creating several excellent scoring opportunities.  The score at half time of 2-0 to the opposition was slightly inflated by an unfortunate deflection off a Tasmanian stick late in the half. 

The boys continued to persevere and got the scoreline to 3-1 through a penalty stroke by Ross Sharpe after a fantastic individual run by Robbie McGuire. Late in the game some lapses in concentration gifted the Victorians some easy goals and the final scoreline of 7-1 wasn’t a true reflection of the evenness of the contest.

The second game of the day was against WA who were playing their only game for the day.  The Tasmanian boys made a great start and made a number of forays forward which placed the WA defence under pressure for long periods.  A penalty corner, earned by some good baseline work by David Baker, resulted in Tassie opening the scoring in the 13^th minute through Robbie McGuire off a well worked corner variation.

Tassie continued to pressure their opposing players all over the field, however a turnover deep in defence at the 10 minute mark of the second half resulted in a WA equaliser and a subsequent goal followed five minutes later.  With time disappearing, the boys maintained composure and built three excellent circle penetrations only to be denied an equaliser.  Mitch Moszko, Dan Hills and Rob Partridge were tireless workers throughout the day in two excellent team efforts. 

The boys front up against NSW on Thursday at 3pm, which will give them a true indication of their improvement to date.

The Tasmanian girls began sluggishly against Victoria in the first match of their double header on Day 3, with Victoria scoring 3-0 in the first half.  In the second half Tassie played with more determination and teamwork and kept the score line as it was at half time. 

In the second match of the day Tassie played WA in an intense encounter with WA receiving multiple cards as Tassie applied the pressure again and again. Courtney Pearson scored from two penalty corners, putting Tassie into the lead early in the first half with WA replying with a goal close to half time.

The match continued in a fierce competition with the Tassie girls coming away with the points, finishing the match with a 2-1 win.  The team is showing great improvement since their first match on Monday and all team members are giving exceptional support to each other on and off the field, with great leadership from Courtney Pearson and Gabby McLeod. 

The girls play NSW tomorrow.