Down and out
Queensland’s under-18s beaten by New South Wales in Taren Point test series Queensland’s title hopes came crashing down this afternoon at the 2013 Under-18 Test Series against New South Wales at Taren Point.
After losing in all four disciplines during yesterday’s series opener (in both the girls and boys events), the Maroons came out fighting in test two.
And while it proved to be a good day for Queensland’s pairs, little else went right for the visitors.
Brendan Wilson and Braidan Leese got Queensland off to a good start, defeating Greg Jeans and Dylan Skinner 18-13 in the boy’s series.
April Wilson and Teleah Putney made it two from two, with a three-shot victory over Lauren Shaw and Ellen Ryan for the girls, 15-12.
Unfortunately the triples outfits couldn’t quite match their teammates’ winning ways, with both the boys and girls going down.
Queensland’s Hayden Vogler, Cohen Litfin and Nic Gosley suffered a heartbreaking one-shot loss to Blues trio Anthony McKenna, Luke Jones and Corey Wedlock, 15-14.
Meanwhile, Connie-Leigh Rixon, Kali Visentin and Rikki-Lee Kemp went down 12-17 against NSW’s Molly Wilton, Jamie-Lee Worsnop and Dawn Hayman.
With only one win from two, the Queenslanders needed a good return from the singles and fours to keep their title hopes alive.
But the home side had other ideas, taking comfortable wins in the boys and girls singles, and wrapping up the series with a draw in the boys fours and victory in the girls match.
Luke Jones proved too good for Queensland’s Brendan Wilson in the singles, clocking up an impressive 21-10 win.
Rikki-Lee Kemp was also out-gunned, beaten 21-14 by Blues ace Dawn Hayman.
With the Blues boys sitting on two wins and a loss in test two, it fell to Braidan Leese’s fours outfit of Vogler, Litfin and Gosley to keep Queensland in the hunt.
But they couldn’t quite pull it off, with Corey Wedlock’s NSW team holding the Queenslanders to a draw, 14-14, to seal the test victory for the home side.
The NSW girls also wrapped up an early series win, beating Maroons foursome Wilson, Rixon, Visentin and Putney 17-14 in the girls match.
The Queenslanders will be playing for pride when the third and final test kicks off this afternoon.
