THE NSW U13 Championships will hit full bore today with the boys joining in the action at the Tamworth Sports Dome.
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Yesterday was just for the girls and saw success for both the host’s sides.
Illawarra (1) was also on the winner’s list and was one of the most impressive sides on the opening day.
After beating Sydney (1) 5-1 in its first game, it thrashed Grafton 14-nil.
“(Against Sydney) the girls played really well,” coach David Riecks said.
“It was a good defensive effort.”
They also threw the ball around well to take their opportunities.
“The second game was again a good defensive effort,” Riecks said.
“We had plenty of turnovers which we capitalised on.”
They had another game against North Shore last night but,with two wins, were in a strong position to push for a spot in the semis.
The Tamworth 1s are in the other pool and also holding out hope of making the semis after a win, draw and loss from their games yesterday.
“If we win the next game (this morning against Macarthur) and get a fair few goals we still have a chance of playing semis,” co-coach Sarah Willis said.
After a 2-all draw to open with against New England (1), they went down 7-4 to Lithgow before finishing with a 5-3 win over Manning Valley.
Willis said they had got better with each game and was most impressed with the way they kept their heads up.
They never really put their heads down, she said, and tried their hardest.
The second Tamworth side is playing in Division 3 and had a loss and a win from its first two games.
The New England 2s, playing in Division 2, had an even better start.
“The girls have gone really well,” coach Harry Lye said.
“They won their first game 3-2 and then won 3-1.
“The first game they (Dubbo) got the first goal but we came back well.”
He’s been particularly impressed with the intensity they’ve been playing with.
“They’ve really stepped up,” Lye said.
A member of the New England 15s side that went away a couple of weeks ago, it’s his first time coaching solo.
He was an assistant coach for one of the boys’ sides last year.
Organisers did have to reshuffle things around a bit after some issues with the flooring that was brought in to cover the existing floors on two of the courts.
With the heat, they had buckled in a few places.
The girls will get play started today, with the first boys’ games at 9.40am.
Tamworth has three sides entered – one in each division.