QLD is the toast of the town
3 April 2008
Queensland has produced a Houdini-like performance on the final day of the Australian Sides Championships to make a clean sweep of the men’s and women’s competitions in Perth.
During a dramatic final round, Queensland’s women needed a minor miracle to claim their third Marj Morris Trophy in four years and that’s exactly what they got.
With Victoria only needing a victory against the ACT to claim the revered title, the tournament frontrunners faltered, but the drama was yet to unfold.
Having pushed themselves into a corner following two unlikely ties with Victoria and New South Wales, Queensland was on the cusp of being crowned national champions, before South Australia squared the match to hand the Maroons their third tie in as many days.
“This is unbelievable,” Queensland’s Kelsey Cottrell, who earlier this week became the youngest skip in Queensland history said.
“A couple of hours ago we were no chance and we’ve won it.
“Three ties (in seven games), who would have thought?
“We all took our time carrying each other and we won it…this is what we came for.”
|
|
Despite a short period of uncertainness, Queensland was ultimately awarded the prestigious title, capping off a red-letter week for the sunshine state.
In the men’s competition, Australian stars Mark Casey, Nathan Rice and Shane Globits propelled Queensland to its second Alley Shield in three years.
Along with Jason Grundon, who was a member of the 2006 championship winning side, the star-studded quartet skipped their rinks impeccably throughout the course of the week as they claimed a two-point win from Victoria, who edged New South Wales out for second place on a count back.
Needing only to defeat South Australia during the final round to secure the Alley Shield, the Maroons underlined their week long dominance by handing the Croweaters a 105-48 loss.
|
Men’s R7 – Osborne Park BC
VIC def ACT 85-75, TAS def NT 101-56, NSW def WA 77-73, QLD def SA 105-48
Final Standings:
QLD 12, VIC 10, NSW 10, TAS 8, WA 8, SA 4, ACT 2, NT 2
Women’s R7 – Manning BC
TAS def NT 54-50, WA def NSW 57-51, SA drew QLD 55-55, ACT def VIC 63-44
Final Standings:
QLD 11, VIC 11, NSW 9, SA 9, WA 6, ACT 6, TAS 4, NT 0
|
|
