2002 Australian Women's Soccer Association Championships

Junior (Under-14's) Tournament

Western Australia came out firing in their opening match of the tournament against Queensland only to go down 0-4 on Day Two. "We attacked well in both halves and consistently made chances for ourselves throughout the game," said coach Leo Kearley on arriving back in Perth. "Two of these chances - one in each half - were pure gold but sadly both went begging and competent counter-attacks by Queensland through eventual Player of the Tournament Alannah Reed punished our lack of concentration. The encouraging thing was the total contrast between this and the corresponding fixture last year where we lost 0-1 but hardly got out of our own half let, alone made a chance on goal." The result would put Queensland three points clear at the top of Pool A at days' end. New South Wales bounced back from the previous days' loss by defeating South Australia 1-0. In Pool B, New South Wales Country moved to outright first place after knocking off the Australian Capital Terrtitory 1-0. Victoria moved up the ladder with a 2-1 win over Northern New South Wales.

Day Three produced another loss for the Western Australian girls, this time 0-6 at the hands of New South Wales whose goals came from Servet Uzunlar (3), Christine Collinson (2) and Katherine Cavanagh. "This game was a big disappointment from start to finish, especially after such a good performance the day before," said Kearley. "Many players performed well below par and New South Wales jumped on any error we made without mercy. For all the recriminations, the W.A. girls still played some good soccer but it was very patchy, and whilst chances were created the pressure just couldn't be sustained to make them count. We also lost one of our key defenders to a serious ankle injury and we later that night found out that she would not play again in the tournament - a tough set of circumstances that was to test the strength of the squad and their resolve." Queensland notched up their third successive win with a big 5-0 result against Tasmania. New South Wales created themselves a six-point buffer at the top of the Pool B table when they thumped the Northern Territory 7-0, while South Australia scored their first win with a 2-0 result against Victoria.

Tasmania were Western Australia's opponent on Wednesday when everything went right for the Perth girls who came away with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Carys Hawkins and Elisa D'Ovidio. "Our third game was always going to be mentally tough after the previous days effort. Tasmania put up some surprisingly strong resistance but the patient approach work by W.A. earned them a goal in each half to run out easy winners," said Kearley. "The girls didn't take any risks in this match and worked hard to put together some excellent structure into their game. Sure, the score could have been more, but after the previous days mauling three points and a clean sheet was far more important for the girls and their confidence." Queensland cemented a spot in the last four with a 1-0 triumph against the Australian Capital Territory. Pool B saw Northern New South Wales run out 2-0 victors over the previously unbeaten New South Wales Country side, and South Australia kept their finals hopes alive with a 3-0 win over the Northern Territory.

In the final day of group action, Marlee Jones was on target for Western Australia as they went down 1-3 the Australian Capital Territory whose goals came from Ellie Brush and Jessica Radstaak (2). "This was another tough game against an A.C.T. side who'd only lost by the odd goal to both Queensland and New South Wales. This was a top game by our girls but a combination of poor finishing by us and a harsh penalty decision in favour of the A.C.T. saw us fall behind 1-2 at half time," said the State Under-14 coach. "We continued to dominate after the break by keeping possession and playing by far the better soccer but could only finish off one of the six or seven excellent opportunities created throughout the game. The third A.C.T. goal came five minutes from full-time as we were throwing everything at our opponents to try and level the score. This is the type of result you have to take on the chin when you play soccer and simply roll up your sleeves and come out fighting for the next one." Tasmania celebrated their first goal of the tournament in the 1-9 loss to New South Wales who claimed second place on the table and a spot in the semi-finals. South Australia's emerged on top in a dramatic, make-or-break clash with Northern New South Wales by 3-2 to also move into the last four at the expense of New South Wales Country who had the bye. Victoria thrashed the Northern Territory 12-0 in the days' final clash.

Western Australia claimed seventh on Friday as goals from Carys Hawkins and Marlee Jones got them over the line 2-1 against Northern New South Wales. "Our opponents were aggrieved to have finished so low in their group and were out to show us who were the best. You could see in the body language of our girls that they were disappointed to not be playing off for fifth, but after a little bit of chat and reassurance their spirits lifted and they were ready for battle," said Kearley. "But some poor sportsmanship and refereeing spoilt the game as the W.A. girls put the ball out of play on two key occasions when Northern New South Wales players were injured only to see them not give the ball back and go on the attack on both occasions. The second time this happened they won a corner from which they pulled us back to one-all! To say the W.A. girls dominated in this game would be an understatement and outside the odd flank incursion in the second half the result was never in doubt as the W.A. girls scored a second and made many more chances to add to this score."

Queensland and New South Wales teed-up a meeting in the Final after cruising to victory over South Australia (5-1) and New South Wales Country (4-1) respectively in Friday's semi-final's. Victoria finished in fifth spot courtesy of a 3-2 win over the Northern Territory, and Tasmania came in ninth following their 2-0 defeat of the Northern Territory. After comfortable semi-final wins, Queensland went into the Under-14 final against New South Wales as favourites after recording a 4-1 in the opening Pool A match. And the Maroons didn't let down their fans, notching up their sixth successive victory a 3-1 result courtesy of a hat-trick by Alannah Reed, following up her four-goal haul in the semi-final against New South Wales Country. Servet Uzunlar was the scorer for New South Wales.

"It was very pleasing to see that the standards of the eastern states teams was as high as ever and our girls had to compete long and hard to gain any success," Kearley commented after the tournament. "The Under-14 squad were hoping to build on their fifth placing of last year but ended in seventh, a disappointment in terms of results maybe but from a playing perspective there was some quality soccer which saw the girls competitive against the other states. On reflection, we know that in 2000 we competed little, in 2001 we got the breaks against the lesser teams and finished mid-table, and this year we were able to compete with every team bar one and that was down to our poor performance on the day. Next year, with the continuing efforts of the coaches dedicated to the girls game and of course the continuing efforts and improvement of the girls themselves, Western Australia should take that all important step up to be alongside the 'big states'."

Junior (Under-14) Touring Party

Junior Results

Final Junior Pool A Standings

Youth (Under-17's) Tournament

Western Australia came up against New South Wales Country on Day Two of competition. Amy Chapman gave Country an early lead, Kylie Woodfin found the net after 27 minutes to put the two side back on level terms before Chapman popped up in the 62nd minute to snatch victory. Northern New South Wales lead was trimmed after New South Wales and Queensland also recorded their second victories, defeating Tasmania (8-0) and the Australian Capital Territory (2-1) respectively. South Australia and Victoria fought out a 1-1 draw in the days other match. Four teams - New South Wales Country, New South Wales, Queensland and Northern New South Wales - sat level on six points at the top of the table after the opening two days.

Tuesday pitted Western Australia against the mighty New South Wales team who were playing their second match of the day. But, for those from the west, it wasn’t a game to remember as Aysha Adalis scored five and Hailey Kerrigan and Julia Bazi once each in the 7-0 mauling. That morning New South Wales accounted for their Northern counterparts 2-0, while Victoria recorded their first win by knocking off the Australian Capital Territory 3-2. Queensland (5-0 over Tasmania) and New South Wales Country (3-1 against South Australia) both secured their third victory from as many starts to stay well on track for a finals berth.

Nadia Poulsen gave Western Australia the lead after 34 minutes against South Australia, and Stacey Woodfin made it two-nil eight minutes later on Day Three of the Youth tournament. But the southerners came roaring back after the break to record a 3-2 win after goals from Courtney Jaensch and Chris Papageorgiou put them on level terms before the latter hit a last-minute winner. Queensland maintained their prefect win record with a 2-0 defeat of Northern New South Wales, while New South Wales Country also notched up another victory after accounting for the Australian Capital Territory 2-1. Victoria had a 2-0 win over Tasmania in the days other fixture.

Not even goals from Stacey Woodfin and Gemma Langley could lead Western Australia to their first win of the tournament in Thursday’s clash with the Australian Capital Territory who claimed the points after Nicole Somi, Rochelle Borucinski and Korri Chaivannacoopt netted. New South Wales won the day’s crunch match, defeating fellow finals contender Queensland 1-0. New South Wales Country also racked up their fifth successive win courtesy of a 4-1 scoreline against Tasmania. Northern New South Wales beat Victoria 2-0, while Queensland’s second match of the day saw them held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited South Australian side.

The previous days’ results meant, regardless of the Friday games, New South Wales and New South Wales Country would play-off for the trophy on Saturday morning. Western Australia finally got themselves in the board with a 3-1 win over Tasmania through goals by Kylie Woodfin (2) and Melissa Spillman, Kendell Brazendale the scorer for Tasmania. New South Wales sealed first place on the final table after defeating Victoria 3-1, and New South Wales Country dropped their first points of the week by going down 1-4 to Northern New South Wales. The Australian Capital Territory and South Australia battle out an entertaining 1-1 draw. The final table standings were New South Wales (1st), New South Wales Country (2nd), Queensland (3rd), Northern New South Wales (4th), Victoria (5th), South Australia (6th), the Australian Capital Territory (7th), Western Australia (8th) and Tasmania (9th).

New South Wales went into what promised to be an enthralling Final clash as favourites with the majority of their team drawn from the strong New South Wales Academy Squad, but they were pushed all the way by their Country opponents. With scores level at 2-2 after extra-time - Julia Bazi, Aysha Adalis (New South Wales), Amy Chapman and Kate Lawson (Country New South Wales the scorers - New South Wales emerged as the National Youth Champions with a 4-2 margin after a penalty shoot-out.

Youth (Under-17) Touring Party

Youth Results

Final Youth Group Standings