Blues retain U18 Test Shield
Queensland’s new U-18 test side was unable to wrest the annual shield off the visiting NSW juniors, the defending champions. BOYS It went down to the wire for the Queensland boys, but it wasn’t to be.
The states were dead level on scoring going into the third and final test, with NSW squeaking through in the First Test, 69-63, and Queensland squeaking through in the Second Test, 63-57, a clash of equals.
Unfortunately, NSW got runs on the board early in the third test, winning the Pairs and Triples by significant margins, which turned out to be too hard for QLD to peg back in the final day’s Single’s and Four’s matches
With NSW up 23-14 in the Pairs and 24-13 in the Triples, Queensland had a margin of 20 to draw the Third Test and the series, or 21 shots for the win.
Gosley made up 6 in the Singles, which was a fine result, but NSW would have had to throw in the towel altogether for Hayden Vogler’s four to be able to dominate by 14 shots or more to swing the test series Queensland’s way.
In fact, Jake Rynne on lead, Mitchell Mears No 2, Jesse Turnbull No 3 and Vogler (skip) won 14-11 over Dylan Skinner’s four for NSW, but the three-point margin was not enough to turn the test.
GIRLS The U-18 Girls had their best test result on the opening day, when conditions were gusty and unpredictable.
They didn’t win the first test but they did force a draw on points 4-4, with a slight win on shots, 70-68.
The Second Test went all NSW’s way, after a landslide win in the Pairs 7-33 put Queensland’s girls on the back foot, allowing NSW to more than double the maroons score 90-46.
The Queensland girls bounced back in the Third Test, but not strongly enough to turn the series in their favour, going down 48-72.
The NSW coaches said it was always good to play against Queensland, and while they were defending champions, Queensland won the Shields in 2012.
“It was a close test all round, with patches of brilliance on both sides,” NSW coach Chris Green said.
“They all played great, they’re a fabulous bunch of kids, with really good attitudes for the whole test,” NSW coach Sharyn Renshaw said.
