The three SA Regional Teams have enjoyed a successful week at the Ultimate Sports Cup in Fiji, with the two girls teams making their respective Grand Finals.

Advancing to the Finals is a fantastic achievement for players whom have come together from remote areas across the state. The competitiveness of the three teams shows that South Australia’s talent pool reaches far and wide.

The U13 Boys continued their campaign on Wednesday with another hard fought nil all draw against Fiji, backing up with a game straight after against NSW. The boys had over sixty percent of the possession and played out from the back impressively every time but failed to make an impact on the score board with the end result 1-0 to NSW.

Thursday saw the boys have a well deserved rest day before their double header fixtures on Friday.

Today the boys have again been competitive finishing the day with two nil all draws against Fiji West and South. The boy’s tournament will continue with game on Saturday.

Boys Coach Cristiano Dos Santos has noted that the competition has been very tough against often older opposition and the more physical Fiji teams but he is very proud of the boys efforts to date.

On Tuesday the Under 15 Girls secured their first win of the tournament at Prince Charles park in Nadi against Fiji West with score locked at nil all at the break Georgina Ramsey from Gawler proving to be the difference with her second half strike to put the girls up 1-0.A rest day followed for the girls to recover from the tournament.

Their next game was against Fiji South in Ba, with eighty percent of possession during the game and the scores locked at nil all at half time it was proving to be a great contest. Unfortunately after the break Fiji South managed to break the deadlock resulting in a 1-0 loss.

Coach James Kerr commended the girls on the efforts stating they did not stop trying. Although suffering defeat to Fiji South the girl’s day brightened when they were informed they had made the Grand Final on goal difference. Today the Under 15’s will face NSW in what shapes up to be a hard fought contest.

The U17 Girls notched up their first win on Wednesday after a rest day on Tuesday, in very trying conditions of heat and humidity they managed to over come Fiji West. Ashleigh Chomik from Williamstown registered the first goal for SA with Sarah Chappel capitalising to make the final result 2-0. 

Coach Tony D ’Agostino reflected on the game saying the win had given the team the confidence to go further.

"It’s taken a few games for us to gel as a team and now we believe in ourselves, and hopefully another win tomorrow will see us in a good position for finals”.

On Thursday full on confidence from their solid performance and win the previous day the U17 girls set out to play Fiji South with a win guaranteeing them a finals berth. The result finished with a 2-0 win, with Jasinda Wood from Mt Gambier and Esther Heywood-Smith from Adelaide Hills scoring the goals. The U17 girls will now face NSW at 1:45pm local time in the Grand Final.

Football Federation SA would like to commend all three teams on their outstanding commitment to the Regional Program and their performances whilst over at the Ultimate Fiji Cup. Best of Luck to the U15 and U17 Girls in their Grand Finals verse NSW today.