Sports

National U15 gold medallist Martina Williams. Image: Courtesy of Leanne Williams.

Grafton hockey stars win gold

Three Grafton Juniors have walked away with gold medals at the recently completed National Hockey Championships.

Martina Williams was part of the NSW State U15 girls’ team who clinched gold in their grand final against Western Australia by 5 goals to 3, with Martina contributing 2 goals to the score line. Martina was a valuable player throughout the tournament and was named equal highest goal scorer over all teams for the championships.

The U18 men’s grand final saw NSW go in as underdogs against Western Australia. Grafton players Rhys Cropper and Tyler Gaddes were part of the NSW line up. The teams had faced off in the round games, with WA coming out on top with a 5-3 victory and qualifying for the grand final undefeated. NSW had to fight their way through to qualify on a penalty shootout in a tough semifinal against Victoria. The grand final was a tight game, with Western Australia scoring in the 40th minute to take the lead. Rhys Cropper was able to find an equaliser just one minute later with an unstoppable tomahawk shot. NSW followed it up with a goal in the 53rd minute and held on to take victory.

 

Angie Day