The first teams through to the NEC Tassie Hawks Cup Grand Final were Prospect and Ulverstone. The unlucky team was New Town High School who didn’t quite kick enough goals to get them across the line, but performed brilliantly on the day and played all their games in excellent spirit.
Northern Regional champions Prospect High School became the first team to take out the inaugural NEC Tassie Hawks Cup when it beat Ulverstone High School 10.7 (67), 5.4 (34) at Aurora Stadium, Launceston.
The Prospect team topped the triangular series standings by percentage with a one-win, one-loss record to secure and confirm their rating as the best high school team in Tasmania with today's historic win over the North West champions Ulverstone High School.
It was a fierce opening to the game with both teams going hard at the footy. Prospect were on top in every aspect of the contest, with their defence — which rebounded many Ulverstone attacks — keeping the opposition to 5 goals.
The forward line functioned beautifully with Jackson and Garwood snaring 3 goals apiece.
"We are ecstatic to be able to pull off this great achievement," Prospect High School coach Steve Walley said.
The team will fly to Melbourne for a development program at Hawthorn Football Club’s training and administrative headquarters at Waverley Park.
“We didn’t use the trip as motivation before the series, but we feel privileged to receive the opportunity, Walley said.
What a start to the NEC Tassie Hawks Cup – we look forward to 2009 with great anticipation.
Ladder at the completion of the triangular series:
Wins Losses Draws %
Prospect 1 1 0 124.24
Ulverstone 1 1 0 92.42
New Town 1 1 0 85.3
NEC Tassie Hawks Cup competing teams line-up ahead of the big game.
Premiers Prospect High School, joined by Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett and Chief Executive Ian Robson.
Runners up Ulverstone High School
Finishing third, New Town High School
Photos courtesy of Matt Bennet of MD ProShots, www.mdproshots.com
NEC Tassie Hawks Cup
Game 1
Prospect High v Ulverstone High
Prospect (6) Goals (11) Behinds (47) d Ulverstone (3) Goals (3) Behinds (21)
Prospect Goals: Josh Woolley 3, Jason Moore 1, Hayden Scott 1, Tom Garwood 1
Prospect Best: Jason Moore, Jacob Lowe, Nick Garwood
Ulverstone Goals: Haidyn Clark 2, Brad King 1
Ulverstone Best: Brad King, Cameron Upston, Dylan French
Game 2
Prospect High v New Town High
New town (7) Goals (3) Behinds (45) d Prospect (5) Goals (5) Behinds (35)
New Town Goals: Johnny Riley 2, Jarrod Midson 1, Luke Bell 1, Adam Young 1, Mike Underwood 1, Kurt Engels 1
New Town Best: Matthew Dilger, Matthew Bennett, Patrick Riley
Prospect Goals: Josh Woolley 2, Hayden Scott 2, Calvin Sunders 1
Prospect Best: Johnny Riley, Josh Woolley, Clinton Morisini
Game 3
New Town High v Ulverstone High
Ulverstone (6) Goals (4) Behinds (40) d New Town (3) Goals (2) Behinds (20)
Ulverstone Goals: Haidyn Clarke 2, Brad King 2, Dylan Fitzpatrick 1
Ulverstone Best: Jack Van Deerfeen, Jacob Snare, Brody Brown
New Town Goals: Mike Underwood 2, Jarrod Midson 1
New Town Best: Patrick Riley, Matthew Dilger, Luke Bell
NEC Tassie Hawks Cup Grand Final
Prospect High v Ulverstone High
Prospect (10) Goals (7) Behinds (67) d Ulverstone (5) Goals (4) Behinds (34)
Prospect Goals: Chris Jackson 3, Tom Garwood 3, Josh Woolley 2, Nick Garwood 1, Simon Lindsay 1
Prospect Best: Jason Moore, Josh Woolley, Clinton Morisini
Ulverstone Goals: Dylan French 1, Thomas McCarthy-Keep 1, Haidyn Clarke 1, Jacob Snare 1, Cameron Upton
Ulverstone Best: Dylan French, Brad King, Jack Vandeerfeen
