SOME of the best young touch footballers from around the state have converged on Port Macquarie for the State Junior Cup touch competition. We've kicked off our coverage of the event. Our roving photo-journalist Matthew Attard is on the ground, and you can find all the latest news here.
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Friday 5pm:
ABOUT double the population of Wauchope will flood into Port Macquarie over the weekend as the NSW Touch Association Junior State Cup kicks off for the first time in the town.
Port Macquarie has jagged the event from Wollongong in 2013. It will be the first time the event isn't in Wollongong in 12 years. The event was launched at Pier One, at the Port Macquarie Panthers, on Friday.
Port Macquarie mayor Peter Besseling was among those who addressed the crowd.He said hosting the tournament was a coup for the town, after some great work hosting the senior tournament.
"It's a great opportunity to capitalise on what we've done over many years," Besseling said.Almost 300 teams will be in action over the weekend, with a total of 12,000 people involved.
While there are state titles up for grabs, NSWTA general manager Dean Russell said it wasn't all about competition, especially for the younger participants.
Friday 5.15pm:
PORT Macquarie teams' State Junior Cup campaigns kick off at 10am today, with the under-10s boys playing against Ryde Eastwood Hawks on field 27. The under-10s girls play Easts Roosters at 10.30am on field 23.
The under-12s boys take on the Parramatta Eels at 11am on field 10 in round two, after a round-one bye.
Port's under-12s girls take on Ryde Eastwood Hawks on field 18 at 10am. The under-14s boys' first match is at 10am on field 8, against Ryde Eastwood Hawks.
The under-14s girls open their campaign with a match against the Maitland Redbacks at 9am on field 16. The under-16s boys will play Parramatta Eels at 8am on field 12.
The under-16s girls will play Muswellbrook Mambas at 10am on field 13. The under-18s boys kick off at 8.30am against Easts Roosters at the Stadium.
The under-18s girls play Berkeley Vale Panthers at 10am. That game's on field 2.
Friday 6:30pm:
THE NSW Touch Association Junior State Cup is almost upon us and we look forward to bringing you all the action tomorrow. Be sure to check the Port News website for regular updates and photo galleries throughout the day.
Saturday 9am:
WE have arrived at the NSW Touch Association Junior State Cup here at the regional sports stadium in Port Macquarie. Unfortunately it's a bit wet due to overnight downpours however it hasn't stopped a mass of people from packing into the stadium with traffic backed up along Hastings River Drive. Stand by for the first set of results from our local teams.
Saturday 10:30am:
THE first set of results for our Port Macquarie teams are flooding through and unfortunately there hasn't been much success for the local teams.
In the first round of the under-14s girls Port Macquarie were lucky to escape with a 2-all draw against the Maitland Redbacks in tough conditions.
The under-16s boys were up next and were smashed by the Parramatta Eels 7-0 in their round one fixture.
The under-18s boys also lost by a heavy margin, with the Easts Roosters dominating the game and running out 6-2 winners over the local side.
Stay tuned for more results shortly.
Saturday 12:15pm:
THE Port Macquare under-18s bounced back from a heavy round one defeat to crush the Leeton team 6-1 in round two of the competition.
Coach Nick Bale told the Port News he was happy with his sides performance."They played pretty good and we have a couple of young, really talented blokes playing for us," he said.
"Our attack is looking pretty good but we need to work on a few defensive things. These kind of carnivals are all about building for the future and we definitely have a bright future ahead of us."
In other results, Port Macquarie's under-10s suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Ryde Eastwood Hawks in Round one. The under-10s girls had more luck however, defeating the Easts Roosters 6-2.
The under-12s girls handed a 3-1 defeat to the Ryde Eastwood Hawks while the Port Macquarie under-14s boys lost to the Hawks 3-0.
Saturday 1:25pm
THE Port Macquarie under-16s boys have suffered another heavy defeat, this time going down by 6-1 against Taren Point in round two of the tournament.
Back to round one results, the under-16s girls have come away with a narrow victory over the Musswellbrook Mambas 3-2 while the under-18s girls suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Berkley Vale Panthers in rainy conditions.
Saturday 2:30pm
A MASSIVE 7-0 victory in round two over the Parramatta Eels 2 team by the under-12s boys has been the highlight for the Port Macquarie sides this aftenoon.
In other round two results the Port Macquarie under-14s girls came away 3-1 victors when they took on the Norther Suburbs Bears this morning.
Former NRL star turned celebrity Matty Johns has been spotted on the sidelines. He is here to watch his son, Cooper, play for the under-14s Manly Sea Eagles team. Current NRL Manly coach Geoff Toovey is also in town with his children.
Saturday 3:30pm
THE Port Macquarie Under-10s girls have convincingly defeated the Penrith Panthers 5-1 while the boys under-10s enjoyed the bye.
The boys under-12s have backed up their 7-0 victory over the Parramatta Eels in round two with a 6-0 drubbing of the Hills Hornets in round three.
They were joined in the winners circle by the Port Macquarie girls under-12s team who got up 2-1 over the Easts Roosters in their round two fixture.
Unfortunately Port Macquarie's under-14 boys team were handed a 5-2 loss by the Nelson Bay Neptunes.
The girls under-18s are currently taking on the Bankstown Jets. Stay tuned for more news and results this afternoon.
Saturday 4:30pm
THE final games of the day are going to get underway shortly but in the meantime here are a few more match results from the tournament.
In the boys under-10s Port Macquarie secured a round three victory over the Wollongong Devils and now play Newcastle City in their final game of the day.
The Port Macquarie girls under-12s walked away with their second draw of the tournament after they drew 2-all with the Parkes Pumas.
The boys under-16s haven't had a very successful tournament and lost 3-0 in their round three clash with Wagga Wagga, meaning they have only been able to manage one try in three games so far.
Port's under-16 girls side were coming off a first round victory but were unable to back it up, eventually loosing 5-1 to the Wallsend Wolves in their round two clash.
Saturday 5:30pm
PORT'S girls under-18s have bounced back from a big loss to defeat the Bankstown Jets in round three. They took out the fixture 4-2 thanks largely to a great performance from Laura Coleman.
In other round three results, after two straight wins the Port Macquarie girls under-10s suffered a 3-1 loss when they faced the Muswellbrook Mambas in round three.
Another round three victory to a Port side came when the under-12s defeated the Singleton Storm 1-0 in a very close affair.
Unfortunately the boys under-14s suffered a very heavy defeat in their clash, walloped 9-3 by the Bankstown Jets. The under-16s boys also lost, narrowly going down 4-3 against the Mudgee Mudcrabs.
Action for the first day of the NSW State Junior Cup touch competition will wrap up at around 7:30pm. Stay tuned for the final results of the day.
Saturday 7:30pm
THE final results of the day are in. Here's how the Port Macquarie teams went in round 4 of today's tournament.
The under-10s boys lost to Newcastle City 2-7 while the under-10s girls also suffered defeat at the hands of the Singleton Storm 5-2.
Port's under-12s boys continued their dominance at the tournament winning their third in a row and handing LBM Rangers a 5-3 loss in the process. The under-12s girls drew 1-all with the Nelson Bay Neptunes.
Moving up an age group, the under-14s boys lost 4-1 against the Orange Thunder and the under-14s girls drew 3-all when they clashed with the Balmain Tigers.
The under-16s were up next and the boys didn't fair too well, suffering a 6-1 loss to Muswellbrook. The girls didn't do much better, losing 6-2 to the Easts Roosters.
Finally, in the under-18s the boys played a thrilling match against the Wests Magpies which ended up tied at 7-all. The Laura Coleman-led girls team continued on their winnings ways, defeating the Singleton Storm 6-3.
That wraps up today's coverage - thanks very much for joining us. The action starts again tomorrow at the regional sports stadium with the final set to be played around lunchtime.
Stay tuned to the Port News website for updates and times for the finals.
