THE 2018 Victorian Country Junior Championships were held in Shepparton over the Queen's Birthday weekend, with all ten Geelong representative teams - seven Boys' and three Girls' teams - performing outstandingly over the three day tournament, which was run by the Victorian Country Leagues' Football Association.

PHOTO: TOP - Geelong North U11s Boys’ team (photo: Christine Patterson); MIDDLE Geelong U14s Boys’ team (photo: Lisa Brooks); BOTTOM – Geelong U15s Boys’ (photo: Ebony van der Starre)

In the BOYS’ division, the U11 North team was crowned Premiers after defeating Shepparton 1-0 in a closely fought Final, as were the U14 Boys and U15 Boys who defeated Shepparton and Albury respectively by the identical scoreline of 2-0 to take the titles in those age categories.

The U13s did exceptionally well but just fell short in their tournament decider, going down 0-2 to Albury in the U13s Grand Final.

The U16s lost 2-0 to Latrobe Valley in their Semi Final showdown, while the U11 South team was extremely unlucky to not get into the U11 Final after going through the preliminary round undefeated and only losing to the eventual champions (Geelong North) in the final round robin game.

In the GIRLS’ division, the unfancied U12s went all the way to the Final and eventually lost 1-4 to a very tough Albury, but not before capturing everyone’s hearts.

Nonetheless, it was great to see Geelong fielding teams in all three Girls’ divisions (U12s, U14s and U16s) after fielding two teams in last year’s tournament and none in 2016.

GOFC Coaching’s Pete Bradley, who co-managed the Geelong rep squads along with his GOFC business partner Mike Chapman, was happy with the way the weekend had gone by.

“From an organisational point of view, the tournament was a great success. With so many players, parents and coaches now involved there are always going to be a few issues but we will be taking feedback from everyone to improve for next year,” Bradley said. 

“A big plus this year was a central meeting area (Gazebo) and Danny Duong, our new sports trainer/remedial massage therapist, who did an amazing job keeping all the players on the pitch over the weekend.

“It was great to see so much talent on display from the region’s community clubs and all the players and families having such a great time, on and off the pitch.

"GOFC would like to take the opportunity to thank all players, parents and coaches for making it such a fantastic weekend. Trial registrations for next year will open in August,” concluded Pete Bradley.

Next year’s tournament will be staged in Ballarat while in 2020 it will be our region’s turn to host more than 1,500 players and three times that amount in officials, parents and supporters in the state’s biggest junior soccer event on the sporting calendar.

BOYS:

U11 (North) - CHAMPIONS

v Bendigo Y 7-0 (W)

v Ballarat 0-0 (D)

v Bendigo B 3-0 (W)

v Shepparton 4-0 (W)

v Gippsland 7-0 (W)

v Geelong South 3-0 (W)

FINAL v Shepparton 1-0 (W)

 

U11 (South) - THIRD

V Bendigo B 4-1 (W)

V Shepparton 1-1 (D)

V Gippsland 4-0 (W)

V Bendigo Y 3-0 (W)

V Ballarat 0-0 (D)

V Geelong North 0-3 (L)

 

U12 - THIRD

V Bendigo 4-0 (W)

V Ballarat 0-1 (L)

V Albury 1-2 (L)

V Latrobe Valley 3-0 (W)

 

U13 - RUNNERS UP

V Latrobe Valley 5-0 (W)

V Albury 3-0 (W)

V Bendigo 7-1 (W)

V Latrobe Valley 4-0 (W)

V Albury 1-1 (D)

V Bendigo 7-0 (W)

FINAL v Albury 0-2 (L)

 

U14 - CHAMPIONS

V Bendigo 4-0 (W)

V Ballarat 0-2 (L)

V Albury 7-0 (W)

V Latrobe Valley 4-1 (W)

SEMI FINAL v Sunraysia 2-1 (W)

FINAL v Shepparton 2-0 (W)

 

U15 – CHAMPIONS

V Albury 2-2 (D)

V Bendigo 2-1 (W)

V Albury 3-0 (W)

V Bendigo 1-1 (D)

FINAL v Albury 2-0 (W)

 

U16 – RUNNERS UP

V Bendigo 3-1 (W)

V Ballarat 0-0 (D)

V Albury 0-0 (D)

V Bendigo 1-0 (W)

V Ballarat 2-0 (W)

V Albury 0-6 (L)

SEMI FINAL v Latrobe Valley 0-2 (L)

 

GIRLS:

U12 – RUNNERS UP

V Gippsland 10-0 (W)

V Shepparton 14-0 (W)

V Bendigo 2-0 (W)

V Ballarat 0-0 (D)

V Albury 0-3 (L)

FINAL v Albury 1-4 (L)

 

U14 - FOURTH

V Gippsland 7-0 (W)

V Bendigo 5-0 (W)

V Ballarat 0-1 (L)

V Albury 0-4 (L)

V Sunraysia 6-0 (W)

V Latrobe Valley 0-4 (L)

 

U16 - FOURTH

V Gippsland 0-2 (L)

V Bendigo 1-1 (D)

V Ballarat 4-1 (W)

V Albury 0-5 (L)

V Sunraysia 1-4 (L)

V Latrobe Valley 0-3 (L)