NEWCASTLE won division one of the NSW Under 13 Boys Indoor State Championships at Orange last week despite not having a regular competition to play in.
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The boys blitzed their early rivals and then held off Parkes in the final, who they finished equal winners with at the Field State Championships earlier this year.
‘Trust every available mate’ was the team’s motto according to coach Rob Henderson, who credited the boys’ character in light of not having a local Newcastle indoor competition.
“Take the first letter of each of those words and it spells team obviously, and that’s what we were about,” he told the Central Western Daily following the victory.
“The boys trusted each other all weekend and trusted the structure we had in place too, and came away with the chocolates. I’m absolutely stoked.”
READ MORE: Newcastle Herald Junior sport news
Newcastle were pitted against Sydney South, Metro South West, Manning Valley and Central Coast for the pool-stage of the tournament and dominated all four sides.
The boys put away 31 goals and conceded only two in the four matches.
A bruising 13-0 victory over Central Coast was the largest scoreline, followed by an 8-1 win over Sydney South, 6-0 win over Manning Valley and a first-up 4-1 victory over Metro South West.
A 4-2 win over Illawarra South Coast in the semi-final propelled the team to the final, where they held off red-hot Central West side Parkes 1-0 in the final.
A Lachlan Lidbury strike in the first half was enough to seal the victory.
“These boys, they just don’t know how to lose and I can’t give them enough praise,” Henderson said.
“We came here with the championship in mind but we don’t have an indoor competition back home, so to come away and do this after the field hockey championship where we finished joint champions with Parkes I think it shows the character of the boys.”
Following the tournament, Newcastle players Edward Hunt and Dane Simpson were named in the NSW Stars, while Henry Hunt was named in the NSW Lions.
Both sides will compete at the Under 13 National Indoor Carnival at Goulburn in January.
Under-13 girls finish sixth
Newcastle under-13 girls finished sixth at the NSW Girls Indoor State Championships at Orange.
The girls recorded a commanding 8-0 victory over Manning Valley and defeated New England 2-1 in the pool matches, along with a 4-1 loss to Northern Sydney & Beaches and a 1-1 draw with Goulburn.
They were beaten 4-2 by Port Macquarie Hastings in the playoff.
Sienna Harvey was selected in the NSW Lions to play at the National Indoor Carnival in January.
