VICTORIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 3 WRAP UP

Round Three of the Victorian Champions League took place over the weekend and was definitely the closest round of matches across most competitions we’ve seen so far.

In the Under 13 Boys, Southern Bluetongues, Loddon Mallee Lightning and South East Cougars kept their perfect records intact, making it three wins from three games. Southern defeated Wimmera 5-0, South East defeated Gippsland 5-0 and Loddon Mallee defeated Rivers 4-1. Western Wolves dropped their first match points of the season, drawing 1-1 with a tough Central City side. North East Diamond won their match against Northern All Stars 3-1 and North West Wanderers defeated Eastern FC 2-0.

Southern Bluetongues and Western Wolves both had big wins this week in the Under 13 Girls, defeating Wimmera South Coast Eagles 6-0 and Central City 6-1 respectively. This sets up a mouth watering encounter for Round Four when Southern will face off against Western. North East Diamonds and North West Wanderers continued on their winning ways, defeating Northern 3-0 and Eastern 2-0 respectively. Rivers defeated Loddon Mallee 2-0 while two first half goals to South East saw them defeat Gippsland 2-1.

North-West Wanderers had the only win in the Under 14 Boys competition, defeating Eastern FC in a thrilling 5-2 encounter. Wimmera South Coast Eagles secured their first competition point of the campaign, with a 1-1 draw with Southern Bluetongues. National Youth Championship All Star Seb Pasquali was on the score sheet for Rivers FC in their 2-2 draw with Loddon Mallee Lightning. Northern All Stars and North East Diamonds drew 1-1, while both keepers were on their toes in the 0-0 match between Central City and Western Wolves.

The Under 15 Girls competition saw some high scores, with North West defeating Eastern 7-0, Western defeating Central 6-0, Loddon Mallee defeating Rivers 6-0 and South East defeating Gippsland 5-0. In closer matches, North East beat Northern 2-1 and Southern overcame Wimmera in a thrilling 3-2 encounter.

In contrast to the girls, the Under 15 Boys was a very tight affair. Apart from Western’s big 5-1 win over Central, all matches were nail-bitingly close. Riley Hamilton was the hero for Rivers, scoring in their 1-0 win over Loddon Mallee. Southern and Wimmera drew 1-1 as did Eastern and North West. Gippsland defeated South East 1-0 while North East edged past Northern 2-1.

Loddon Mallee Lightning and North East Diamonds continued to set the pace in the Under 17 Girls, with North East defeating Northern 5-0 and Loddon Mallee running away 8-0 winners over Rivers. Something will have to give next week, when the two sides will face off against each other with their perfect records at stake. North West Wanderers enjoyed a 3-0 win over Eastern while Central City drew 3-3 with Western Wolves, Gippsland Knights drew 2-2 with South East Cougars and Southern Bluetongues drew 1-1 with Wimmera South Coast Eagles.

All eyes were on league leaders Western Wolves and Central City in the Under 17 Boys as they faced off this week with top spot at stake. After 90 minutes of scintillating football, the final score read 1-1. The always dangerous Southern Bluetongues were overturned 3-2 by a determined Wimmera South Coast Eagles side and Gippsland had a hard fought 3-1 victory over South East Cougars. Eastern FC kept in touch with the leaders with a convincing 5-0 win over North West Wanderers, North East Diamonds secured their first competition points of the season with a 6-1 win over Northern All Stars and Rivers FC and Loddon Mallee Lightning drew 1-1.