It was a performance so sublime, by a team so reliant on New England talent, that Tamworth hockey boss Mark O’Connor can’t recall witnessing a more dominant display.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
“It was absolutely crazy,” he said.
When the NSW under-15 boys beat Victoria 7-3 in the national indoor hockey final at Goulburn on Saturday, they fulfilled what was surely their destiny after producing a series of Bradmanesque performances.
And key the dismantling of their state rivals were Armidale’s Jake McCann, the player of the championships, and Tamworth’s Nick O’Connor, the equal leading goalscorer of the championships with 15 and NSW’s youngest player at 14.
McCann was third on the goal-scoring list with 13 while another Armidale player, Nathan Czinner, was third with 11.
Their superb efforts helped NSW stage an undefeated rampage that saw them score 74 goals and concede eight.
The blowouts included a 16-0 rout of Tasmania, a 13-1 demolition of Western Australia and a 12-1 humbling of the ACT in their tournament opener.
Their 7-3 defeat of Victoria in the final, after leading 2-1 at halftime, was the tightest match.
“Incredible,” O’Connor, dad to Nick, said. “That team is very, very strong. The four and against was incredible.”
“There were games decided 3-1 and 2-1, and they’re [NSW] winning 12-0 and 16-1,” he added.
“It was a very, very strong performance … This team has so much talent the [NSW] coach [Dan Coulson] made the comment that it was one of the most cohesive groups that he’s had the pleasure of coaching, and one of the most talented groups, too.”
McGann and Czinner also won gold with NSW at the under-15 outdoor national championships in 2017.
The team’s arresting showing in Goulburn were the highlight of what has been an outstanding nationals for NSW sides and their New England members.
The NSW under-15 girls, featuring Armidale’s Chelsea Thornton and Lilly Nelson, were also undefeated in winning the title. They beat Queensland 3-1 in the final on Saturday.
At the under-13 nationals, Tamworth’s Maeve Galvin and Callie Mitchell and Armidale’s Tyler McCann were part of a golden double.
Galvin and Mitchell’s girls side won six of their eight games, with an impressive plus-17 goal differential. Their biggest win was a 9-1 thumping of the ACT.
The under-13 boys didn’t lose a game in scoring 34 goals and conceding eight. They had four of the top 10 goalscorers in the championships, with McCann the equal top goalscorer with seven.
Tamworth’s Ehren Hazell was also among the top goalscorers at the under-21 nationals as the NSW men finished second after ACT beat them 6-2 in the final at Goulburn on January 12.
Hazell was NSW’s second top goalscorer with seven goals.
Emily Chaffey, of Tamworth, and Sarah Askey, Tahlia Constance and Meg Lye, of Armidale, are part of the NSW under-18 girls side who have won their first two games at Goulburn to sit atop the table. Chaffey is the championships’ leading goalscorer with five, while Askey has netted two.
