An undefeated weekend has seen Hockey Central Victoria's under-18 boys win gold at the 2021 Junior Country Championships.
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The squad had a tough battle against Albury Wodonga in the grand final, but were able to contain their opponents with a 2-1 victory on Sunday.
"Albury was a physical team and we knew we'd have to show strength on the ball to allow opportunities to attack," coach Ross Evans said.
"During the game we proved to be the stronger team and once we could get the ball in our half it was likely it would lead to us being on the positive side of the ledger."
Among the HCV boys, 15-year-old Tyler Green was among the best during the course of the tournament scoring 14 goals in total, average of two per game.
The team went 6-0 during the pool matches.
Overall the team was elated to pull off the clean championship win, but the triumph didn't come without challenges.
The team had several of its players miss games due to North West Lightning and Premier League commitments, but thanks to North Central they were able to borrow a keeper and player.
"Another challenge was linking up a group of boys who are really well skilled individually but getting them to connect with passes during games was difficult," Evans said.
"But after each game their cohesion continued to develop and when it all clicked they played great hockey which made their opposition look second rate," Evans said.
Also in action for Hockey Central Victoria was an under-15 girls team which won three games and finished fifth overall within their division.
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