Chloe Barrett’s NSW side, the defending champions, and Annabelle Tierney’s Tasmanian unit found their feet midway through the Hockey Australia Under-18 Indoor Championship, shooting up the standings after less than ideal starts to the tournament.
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It took Barrett's side two days to score its first victory of the carnival. The sky blues opened their campaign with a 3-3 draw against Queensland and a disappointing 3-2 loss to Victoria.
On Wednesday’s second day Barrett led her side to its maiden win, scoring an 18th minute goal in NSW’s 4-1 win over the ACT. Emma O’Brien, Taylor Thomson and Talia Constance also banged in goals.
NSW backed that up with a strong 3-1 victory over title contenders Western Australia.
Tasmania improved dramatically on Thursday’s third day.
After being thumped in their first four games by Queensland (5-0), Victoria (5-1), ACT (6-0) and Western Australia (8-0), Tierney and her Tasmanian chums secured their first victory over South Australia.
It was a thrilling win too.
The game was locked at 0-0 for all but a few seconds. Tasmania dominated possession – boasting 55.4 per cent of it – but the South Australians were far better in terms of circle entries (16-8).
But, courtesy of skipper Olivia Canning’s 40th minute strike, the Tasmanians prevailed 1-0.
Barrett and Tierney will clash on Friday afternoon.