Force makes strong start to carnival

Day one results at the Hunter Challenge Cup sees the North Coast Force program sitting in second position on the ladder after making a great start to the representative carnival.

All five teams performed impressively to see the Force trailing only the strong Hunter Metro outfit based on the combined percentage of matches won.

Matt Anderson, Coaching Co-ordinator, was extremely impressed by the performances of all Force teams.

“The overall standard at this carnival has gone up from last year, with both Central Coast and Hunter Country being a lot more competitive. For us to have also raised our levels and maintain the position we claimed last year is a real credit to the coaches and players,” Anderson said.

“Our skills and playing standard has developed and increased across all age groups. It’s great to see.”

The highlight of day one was seeing the Youth Girls 13 team taking part in its inaugural carnival and going on to claim its first ever win in this age group.

After a first up loss, the girls came from behind in their second match to finish over the top of Central Coast and claim a strong win.

The Under 15 team were on fire from the outset to record a comfortable victory over Central Coast. In their second match, the team battled back well to overcome an early deficit but unfortunately went down in a nail biter.

Last minute injuries and illness saw the late withdrawal of several players from the Under 17 team ahead of the carnival, and this was compounded by a further injury in the warm-up for the first match. Despite being undermanned the team competed strongly in both matches but understandably struggled to maintain the intensity of their opponents and were unable to claim a win.

The Under 13 started with an exciting win over Central Coast who were the dominant team in the age group last year. Another good performance in the second match of the day saw the team come up just short against Hunter Metro in a very competitive match.

The Youth Girls 17 team showed their class by sharing players with their opponents in both matches, and it was the players who donned the other teams’ jumpers that really stood up. After a tough first match against Hunter which resulted in a loss the girls fought back strongly to finish the day on a high with victory against Central Coast.

Action starts at 9:00am today with the Under 13, Under 15, and Under 17 teams all in action first up. Each of the Force teams have two further matches today where the coaches and players are looking to build on the performances of day one.