South Australia sweeps the first Junior Alliance Cup

The first ever Junior Alliance Cup was held in Adelaide over this past weekend (23rd-25th January 2021). Teams from the Northern Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia descended on Adelaide's City Touch fields for the three-day tournament. 

Teams competed across six divisions from Under-13s to Under-18s in tough conditions, with temperatures rising to 41 degrees Celsius on the second day of competition.  

The U13 divisions became a best-of-three series between SA and the NT, with SA winning the series 3-0 in both the U13 Boys and U13 Girls. 

The U16 Boys division saw two SA teams compete in a best-of-three series, with the South Australian Wolves team beating South Australian Vipers 3-0. 

The U16 Girls division was tight, with the SA Stingrays, Tasmania and Victoria all in contention for the Grand Final coming into the last round game. With the results of the last round coming down to percentage, the SA Stingrays ended up taking on the Tasmania Thunder in the Grand Final. With scores tied at the end of the GF, the first drop-off for finals day then tapped off. It came down to 3-on-3 on the field and fatigue was setting in as the SA Stingrays managed to find the tryline for a 6-5 win, making them the U16 Girls division champions.

Another tight battle in the U18 Boys saw the SA Roosters take on Victoria Storm in the Grand Final. Again, level scores at extra time saw this go into a drop-off, with SA again victorious, winning 4-3.

Due to the extreme weather, the U18 Girls Saturday round games had to be rescheduled to early on finals day. SA went through undefeated and took on Victoria in the grand final. SA put on another dominant display and finished undefeated, beating Victoria 5-3 in the final game of the day. 

A special thank you to all the staff, referees and volunteers who made this event happen.

Click here to see all division results, ladders and fixtures.