National Under 18 Championships: Tasmanian Men Down NSW: Women Fall To Victoria
Published Thu 09 Jul 2026
The Tasmanian Under 18 Men have advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Under 18 Championships in Darwin after a hard-fought 4-2 victory over New South Wales Blues.
A physical, and at times spiteful, contest saw Tasmania break the deadlock early in the second quarter through Angus McMullen.
Trent Smith then continued his outstanding tournament, scoring twice in the third quarter to put Tasmania firmly in control with a 3-0 lead heading into the final term.
However, New South Wales mounted a fierce comeback, scoring twice in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter to cut the margin to just one goal and set up a tense finish. Both sides created chances in an absorbing final 10 minutes before Joey Bush finally sealed the result, finding the goals with just two minutes remaining to send Tasmania through to the final four.
The victory guarantees Tasmania a chance to play for a medal over the final two days of the championships.
Having overcome one New South Wales side, Tasmania will now face the other, taking on New South Wales State in Friday's semi-final at 3:00pm.
Under 18 Women Fall To Victoria
There was no such luck for the Tasmanian Under 18 Women, who went down 6-1 to Victoria in their quarter-final.
Victoria made a blistering start, scoring three goals in the opening 10 minutes to leave Tasmania with a mountain to climb. Frances Boyles pulled one back in the third quarter, but the Victorians proved too strong, ending Tasmania's medal hopes. The Tasmanians will now compete in the 5th-8th classification matches over the remainder of the tournament.
They had secured their place in the quarter-finals the day before with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Western Australia, thanks to a last-quarter equaliser from Essie Pelham. After having a goal controversially disallowed on the stroke of quarter-time and trailing by a goal entering the final term, Pelham produced her second late-game heroics of the tournament, finishing off a well-worked team move to level the scores. The draw was enough to send Tasmania through to the quarter-finals, with the higher-ranked side advancing.
