Penalty Shootout Heartbreak for Under-21 Men in Final for the Ages
Published Thu 30 Apr 2026
Tasmania has fallen just short in its bid for a gold medal at the National Under-21 Championships, losing 3–1 in a penalty shootout to Western Australia following a pulsating 4–4 draw in regulation time.
In a truly epic decider that saw Western Australia rally from a two-goal deficit, and Tasmania twice score last-quarter equalisers, it was the four-time defending champions who held their nerve in the shootout to secure gold and make it 5 consecutive gold medals.
Tasmania made a dream start to the final, with Oliver Stebbings converting early dominance into a deserved lead in the 18th minute, before doubling the advantage just two minutes later from the penalty spot.
Western Australia responded by halving the deficit before half-time, then produced a dominant third quarter to take a 3–2 lead into the final term.
Tasmania refused to be deterred, with Tyson Johnson scoring an absolute screamer, thumping home a reverse-stick finish early in the last quarter to level the scores at 3–3.
The game continued to flow end-to-end, with both sides pushing hard for a winner. Western Australia looked to have found it when they reclaimed the lead with five minutes remaining, as Charlie Johnston scored a screamer of his own, injuring Alistair Stebbings in the process to make it 4–3.
But Tasmania had one final push left. Angus McMullen pounced on a rebound in the circle and produced a composed finish to score a dramatic late equaliser in the 58th minute.
The match went to a shootout, where McMullen again found the net to make it 1–1 after two rounds. He was the only Tasmanian to score, however, as the West Australian goalkeeper stood tall and the defending champions held their nerve to claim a 3–1 shootout victory, leaving Tasmania to settle for silver.
