Juniors glory in final showdown

IT was a finale of thrills and upsets as North Hobart Oval hosted its second set of junior football grand finals, with four matches held in the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 competitions.

STJFL executive officer Tony Gibson said a good crowd of almost 4000 enjoyed at great day of clean and skilful junior football.

THERE were upsets galore in the second weekend of Southern Tasmanian Junior Football League grand finals, with boilovers at North Hobart Oval

North Hobart hosted its second set of junior football grand finals yesterday, with four matches held between the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 competitions.

STJFL executive officer Tony Gibson said three of the four games were upsets.

In the under-18s, Clarence upset Kingborough, with North Hobart edging by the Roos in the under-16s by two points. Lindisfarne upset the Demons in the under-14s, while Clarence was too good for Sandy Bay in the under-12s.

“North Hobart won [in the under-16s] unexpectedly, Clarence’s under-18s won unexpectedly and Lindisfarne upset North in the under-14s,” Mr Gibson said.

There were almost double the people in attendance yesterday to last Sunday, with 3500 cheering on their clubs.

“You couldn’t ask for a better day for football,” Mr Gibson said.

“It was a smooth day and there was some really great footy played.”

Last weekend Clarence defeated North Hobart in the under-13s, while the Demons edged out Clarence in the under-16 showdown.

In the girls’ competitions, Sandy Bay overcame North Hobart in the under-14s while Claremont upset Kingborough in the under-17 match up.

Mr Gibson said the STJFL was planning to implement a fourth junior girls competition next year, with under-17s, 15s, 13s, and 11s the desired format. This year there were under-17s, 14s and 11s competitions.

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