Stunning Comeback Gives Woonona Title

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday October 2, 2008

By MICHAEL COX

WOONONA High School staged a stunning comeback to clinch last week's CHS State Hockey Knockout final in Newcastle.

Trailing Westfield Sports High School 2-0 at half-time, Woonona stormed home to score three goals in the final 15 minutes.

After qualifying for the final with easy wins over Murwillumbah (6-1) and Lithgow (5-2), Woonona found themselves a goal behind after just two minutes against Westfield.

They conceded another just before the break and it seemed that the powerful Sydney line-up had the game wrapped up.

But the South Coast champions fired up in the second half, with all three goals being scored by Australian under-21 squad member Tristan White.

Coach Greg Condon revealed that a half-time pep talk from the team's leadership group had provided the impetus.

"One of the senior players in the side said to the team, 'guys, we can score four goals this half '," the coach said.

"The team were very positive, they certainly weren't giving up - they believed they could win," Condon added.

"We talked about being positive and we particularly talked at half-time about playing smarter and faster than Westfield because they were a big, aggressive side."

Although the win against a dedicated sports school was a monumental achievement, Condon said he was most proud of the positive attitude and sportsmanship displayed by his South Coast team.

"They never doubted they could do it," he said.

"They really demonstrated good sportsmanship - that's what I brought away from it. They were so positive and sporting - and that was as big a deal as beating Westfield in some ways."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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