FINA World Junior Men's Water Polo Championships

Australia takes 11th place 

In the final match for the Aussie junior men at the FINA World Championships, they once again met Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in thrilling final match that saw Australia once again claim a one poing victory 9-8.

The two teams met during the group stages where the Aussies staged a stunning come from behind win to up set the Kiwis with a 8-7 win.  

Both teams learned the lessons from the day-three clash and the match was level at every number to five by halftime and Australia had four leads to New Zealand’s one.

The third period started with a VAR decision in favour of Australia’s Lachlan Vos. The ball went high into the bar and off the back of goalkeeper Bae Fountain into goal. New Zealand's Rowan Brown converted a penalty foul at a time when captain Kiwi James Catlin was ousted on three major fouls.

After Aussie Captain Charlie Negus converted his penalty shot, team-mate Matthew Oberman was red-carded for misconduct and New Zealand scored at the other end, but only after the ball rebounded twice in favour of the Kiwis.

Negus slid in his fifth goal on extra-man attack and less than a minute later Vos smashed in from two metres at 3:39. New Zealand called a timeout and the resulting play yielded a goal from the deep left by Louie Ferigo at 1:56 — enough time for the Kiwis to come back. However, it was not to be and neither team could score, leaving Australia the winner of the two matches between the neighbours.

The final result was an eleventh place overall at the FINA Junior Men's World Championships. Congratulations to all players and coaches. 

NEW ZEALAND 8 AUSTRALIA 9

Quarters: 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, 2-3

Extra man: NZL: 3/7. AUS: 3/9.

Penalties: NZL: 2/2. AUS: 1/1.

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector, Matthew Murphy, Lachlan Vos (3), Matthew Oberman, James Gillfeather (1), Hugh Anstey, Charlie Negus (5), Alastair Bruce, Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes, Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

AUS v CAN 

It was another close battle for the junior Aussie Men when they met Canada in the minor placings play off, eventually going down 8-11. 

The scores were tied six times throughout the game.  It was a tight opener with a goal each and an up-tempo second spell as Canada went to 3-1; Australia levelling at three and four. It was Aussie Captain Charlie Negus scored at 0:13 and the Aussies took Coté for granted as he slammed in the 5-4 goal with just seconds to spare.

Australia levelled for the third time through Negus to start the third quarter. Coté quickly restored order for Canada on extra and Harrison Henning made it a two-goal margin once again, receiving an angled cross pass to two metres, steering it in from on high.

Negus converted a quick extra-man attack in the bottom left for 6-7 inside the last minute to tie the period, but trail 7-6. On the first Aussie attack, Negus latched on to a cross pass meant for the player behind him and whipped it into goal for the fifth tied score. Hugh Anstey drilled one from the top and Australia had its second lead. Coté snapped in his third goal when poorly guarded and Bogdan Djerkovic did what he does best at two metres to regain the lead for Canada. Coté did more damage from deep left on extra and the two-goal margin was restored, again. Djerkovic put the match beyond Australia with a fumbled centre forward goal that he would be happy with at 1:53. Canada botched a timeout play and Australia had a shot blocked, the match dying as a contest.

The Aussies will now face New Zealand for 11^th position.

AUSTRALIA 8 CANADA 11

Quarters: 1-1, 3-4, 2-2, 2-4

Extra man: AUS: 4/9. CAN: 6/9.

Teams:

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector (1), Matthew Murphy, Lachlan Vos (2), Matthew Oberman, James Gillfeather, Hugh Anstey (1), Charlie Negus (4), Alastair Bruce, Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes, Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

Cross Over Final I AUS v JAP

Our Aussie Junior Men have suffered defeat in the final stages of their cross over final match against Japan overnight.

Hugh Anstey did his best with a six-metre free-throw shot to score for Australia and take the score to 10-9.

The team found itself so close after dominating the second half, scoring six goals in a last ditch effort to get the win.

Despite a last minute comeback, to bring the scores even with 2.3 seconds to go, a late goal from the Japanese led them to take the lead, with the final score standing at 10-11.

James Gillfeather added another three goals to his tournament tally, with two for captain Charlie Negus and Hugh Anstey.

Jack Rector, Matthew Oberman and Matthew Byrne were also among the teams scorers.

Australia will now face Canada tonight, Wednesday 18 December, at 9:20PM AEDT.

All games will be streamed LIVE on FINA TV.

Game 4 - Results

JAPAN 11 AUSTRALIA 10

Quarters: 3-1, 5-2, 2-3, 1-4

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector( 1), Matthew Murphy, Lachlan Vos, Matthew Oberman (1), James Gillfeather (3), Hugh Anstey (2), Charlie Negus (2), Alastair Bruce, Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes (1), Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

Game 4 I AUS v UZB

Australia have finished second in their pool, after convincingly defeating Uzbekistan 25-7 in their final match of the preliminary round at the FINA World Junior Men's Water Polo Championships overnight.

Centre forward Matthew Oberman and outside shooter James Gillfeather relished the outing, scoring four goals each, with eventual MVP Alastair Bruce also adding four goals to the team's tally.

Bruce said that it was great to see the team able to pull it together before heading into the cross over finals.

"It was a solid win tonight - good to get a convincing win before moving forward into the knock out rounds of the tournament" Bruce said.

The team will now face Japan in the first stage of the cross over finals on Wednesday 18 December at 1:30AM AEDT.

All games will be streamed LIVE on FINA TV.

Game 4 - Results

AUSTRALIA 25 UZBEKISTAN 7

Quarters: 8-2, 8-1, 5-2, 4-2

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector (1), Matthew Murphy (2), Lachlan Vos (1), Matthew Oberman (4), James Gillfeather (4), Hugh Anstey (2), Charlie Negus (3), Alastair Bruce (4), Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt (3), Matthew Byrnes (1), Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

Game 3 I AUS v BRA

Australia have become the kings of the last quarter, scoring five goals in the final term to convincingly defeat Brazil 9-6 in their third game of the FINA World Junior Men's Water Polo Championships.

After a tied first quarter, the Australians started their surge early in the second term with an early goal from captain Charlie Negus.

Three big goals from James Gillfeather put the team in a good position with an almost unbeatable margin.

Goal keeper John Hedges, who was awarded MVP of the match, said the team improved on their performance from game two.

"The boys were more switched on today, we came out strong and were able to deliver," Hedges said.

"We flew away with it in the second half, the game was ours for the taking," he said.

The team will now come up against Uzbekistan in the final game of the preliminary round on Tuesday 17 December at 1:30AM AEDT.

All games will be streamed LIVE on FINA TV.

Game 3 - Results

AUSTRALIA 9 BRAZIL 6

Quarters: 1-1, 2-1, 0-2, 3-5

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector, Matthew Murphy, Lachlan Vos, Matthew Oberman, James Gillfeather (3), Hugh Anstey (1), Charlie Negus (2), Alastair Bruce (2), Nicholas Taylor (1), Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes, Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

Game 2 I AUS v NZL 

Australia has a staged a thrilling come from behind vicotry against Trans Tasman rivals New Zealand to take a 8-7 win in their second match of the FINA World Junior Men's Water Polo Championships. 

Depsite trailing for most of the match, the young Aussies lifted in the final quarter to lock up the score board 7-7 with less than 20 seconds left on the match clock.

Heading into the final quater trailing, the Aussies started to play with some urgency sparked by Matthew Byrnes earning an ejection, receiving the ball and bouncing it into goal for 7-5. Jack Rector hammered in one from four metres at 5:26 and the margin was just one. A Kiwi timeout yielded nothing but anguish.

Anstey drove to six metres and helped himself to the equaliser at 2:15.  The ball was stolen off New Zealand at the far end and Australia made the last attack, with Lachlan Vos firing from eight metres, only to see his shot cannon off a defender into the bottom right of the goal for the winner at 0:16. 

Leading goal scorer for the Aussies, Hugh Anstey was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match. 

The team will now face Brazil on Sunday 15 December at 5:30pm AEDT.  

All games will be streamed LIVE on FINA TV.

Game 2 - Results

AUSTRALIA 8 NEW ZEALAND 7

Quarters: 2-3, 1-2, 1-1, 4-1

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector (1), Matthew Murphy, Lachlan Vos (1), Matthew Oberman, James Gillfeather (2), Hugh Anstey (3), Charlie Negus, Alastair Bruce, Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes (1), Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

Game 1 I AUS v GRE

The Australians had a tough start to their FINA World Junior Men's Water Polo Championships campaign, where they faced defending world champions Greece.

A goal from Charlie Negus early in the first term had the team sitting steady, heading into the second quarter down 3-1.

The Grecians, however, proved too tough, taking an early 9-5 lead heading into the second half before sealing a commanding 16-9 win.

Three-goal scorer and KAP7 Aussie Sharks squad member Charlie Negus said the team should be proud of their first round efforts.

"Even though we lost 16-9, there were a lot of positives to take from that game," Negus said.

"But the boys will bounce back, and we're looking forward to our next match against New Zealand in a couple of days.

Australia have a bye on the second day, and will face their trans tasman rivals New Zealand on Saturday 14 December 8:10PM AEDT (12:10PM local time).

All games will be streamed LIVE on FINA TV.

Game 1 - Results

AUSTRALIA 9 GREECE 16

Quarters: 3-1, 6-4, 3-2, 4-2

AUSTRALIA: John Hedges, Jack Rector (1), Matthew Murphy (1), Lachlan Vos (1), Matthew Oberman (1), James Gillfeather (1), Hugh Anstey, Charlie Negus (3), Alastair Bruce, Nicholas Taylor, Lewis Putt, Matthew Byrnes (1), Flynn Mais. Head Coach: Andrew Yanitsas.

TEAM

Hugh Anstey (NSW) Balmain

Alastair Bruce (WA) Fremantle

Matt Byrnes (NSW) Wests

James Gilfeather (NSW) Wests

John Hedges (WA) Fremantle

Matthew Oberman (WA) Triton

Flynn Mais (WA) Fremantle

Matt Murphy (WA) UWA

Charlie Negus (NSW) Wests

Jack Rector (NSW) Drummoyne

Nick Taylor (ACT) Wests

Lewis Putt (WA) Triton

Lachlan Vos (WA) UWA

COACHING AND SUPPORT STAFF

Head Coach Andrew Yanitsas

Assistant Coach András Jó-Kovács

Physiotherapist Tom Gilbert

Referee Connor Davis