The south-west region's most promising young footballers showcased their skills across two venues at Portland and Hethmere on Sunday, May 5, exciting fans and providing a glimpse into the future.
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The junior interleague carnival, run by the South West District Football Netball League, featured under 14 and under 17 representative teams from the Hampden, Warrnambool and District, Wimmera and South West competitions.
Across an action-packed day of football, it was the Hampden league who reigned supreme in the under 17s.
Hampden East defeated Hampden West in a thrilling under 17 grand final late in the day, holding on to win by eight points, 4.4 (28) to 3.2 (20).
The Ben Parkinson-coached side, which featured players from Camperdown, Warrnambool, North Warrnambool Eagles, Terang Mortlake and Cobden got the chocolates in a "fast-paced, skilful game of football".
The west-based side, coach by Justin Impey, featured players from South Warrnambool, Portland, Port Fairy, Hamilton and Koroit.
Parkinson said for both of the league's under 17 teams to reach the final was indicative of the talent within the region.
"They beat us in the first game of the day and we got one back in the end," he said.
"The one at the end day is what mattered so it's great for the boys. It's a real showcase of the Hampden league making the final against each other and it's been confirmed we get to play our under 17 team in a curtain-raiser to the senior interleague so that's exciting.
"I think the Hampden league is really strong at the moment, this crop of under 17 players is really exciting, a talented group.
"It was a very fast, skilful game of football. It was a great game to watch."
Parkinson said his team had some adjustments to make throughout the carnival, which saw his side play four matches starting from 9am.
"It took me a few games to work out where we needed to play people, I didn't know many of the kids from Camperdown, Cobden and Terang way and we were probably undermanned in height," he said.
"We lost Riley Holloway who made his Rebels debut and then Charlie McKinnon also got a late call-up as well to the Rebels."
The former Warrnambool mentor said several players stepped up to play in different positions as a result.
"Young Hugh Morgan came out of the midfield and played centre half-back and just did whatever we asked of him," he said.
"Another in Taj Cunningham did an awesome job at full-back, I'm not sure if he's ever done that at club level, but they ended up gelling by the end of the day and got the winning result which is great."
In the under 14 mixed competition, it was the Wimmera competition who defeated Hampden West in the grand final at Hethmere, winning 11.4 (70) to 3.4 (22).
Nick Creely
Sports reporter with The Standard
Sports reporter with The Standard
