Wagga’s upcoming crop of Tim Cahills and Sam Kerrs must have taken their lucky kicking boots to the Young Carnival last weekend.
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The junior Wanderers fielded 10 sides in the highly regarded tournament and produced one of the best overall performances from any club with four gold medals to their name.
The under 10s boys, under 14s boys, under 12s girls and under 14s girls took out their respective divisions with Wagga’s six other teams performing well despite playing in higher age groups, and in some instance, different competitions entirely.
Football Wagga development officer Liam Dedini was thrilled with the end result and heaped praise on his young charges.
“It’s pretty great to come away with four wins and all the teams we fielded played really well in Young,” he said
“We had a couple of teams playing up in the age group above them and our under 9s girls ended up playing in the under 8s boys competition, so we’re really proud of them too.”
Wagga’s under 10s boys were the first team to clinch victory and did so in emphatic fashion, powering through to the grand final without conceding a single goal.
The Wanderers faced a sterner test in the big dance with Griffith forcing a 2-all stalemate before goalkeeper Leo Rudd stepped up to the plate for penalties.
Rudd made a crucial save that set the stage for Alex English, who scored the winner and handed his side the gold medal.
The under 14s boys were even more dominant, keeping a clean sheet throughout the entire tournament and scoring 10 goals, including a 2-0 win over Cowra Eagles in their grand final.
In the girls’ competitions, Wagga’s under 12s ground out three wins to clinch top spot over the under 11s, who played in the same division, while the under 14s – arguably Wagga’s best junior side – continued their rich vein of form.
Playing against a mix of boys and girls sides, the under 14s girls started with a 4-1 loss to the Cowra boys before upsetting the Young boys 1-0.
A 2-0 loss to the Gungahlin boys dampened the mood, however, the girls fought back to clinch their division in style.
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