Last Wednesday, the Goulburn Touch Association signed off on the 2020/21 season with a huge night of Mixed Competition grand finals.
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Despite a week's delay due to rain, there were still strong crowds throughout the evening as spectators were once again allowed to watch the matches unfold.
All games made for entertaining viewing, but the Premier League finals were particularly competitive and the winners in each match only claimed victory by a single point.
The results from across the Goulburn Mixed Competition finals are as follows:
- Mixed Premier League: Redskins (5) def Where's The Gold (4)
- Mixed Premier League Reserve: Purple Cobras (6) def Godsquad (5)
- Mixed Division 1: Pacers & Chasers (5) def Ball and Mane (3)
- Mixed Division 2: Try-fecta (5) def Inappropriate Touch (2)
- Mixed Division 3: Tri-Hards (7) def Sea Cows (4)
- Mixed Division 4: I'd Tap That (5) def Foxy Touch (4)
- Mixed Division 5: A Medical Mystery (5) def Eat Our Dust (4)
Competition organiser, Isaac Walker, was thrilled that the competition ran so smoothly, but looks forward to a larger field of teams in 2021/22.
"It went pretty well this year, obviously with different times due to COVID," Walker said.
"We had to start the season by restricting our numbers to a lot less sides than we're used to. It worked quite well, people showed up and were happy to play.
"Usually the second half of the year, teams drop off and aren't as interested, but we actually kept all our sides and had quite a successful year."
The continued strength in numbers throughout the competition, Walker suspected, was due to the lack of sport played through winter due to the pandemic, as players were itching to get back into the action.
Where normally the mixed competitions draw more than 60 teams, this season that number was restricted to 42.
In spite of the lower number of sides involved, Walker said the quality of touch played was up to Goulburn's usual high standard.
"There's always been a pretty good standard around here, especially when you get the cream of the boys and the cream of the girls competing in that Premier League," he said.
One of the positive aspects from this year's competition began when the association restructured the Premier League by adding some young teams full of talented players to the competition.
This allowed the youngsters some exposure against top sides, before the division was split into a top four and bottom four ahead of finals.
"It worked out quite well, the standard's always been good around here," Walker said.
"The younger sides are going to be beating us in a couple of years. We wanted to give them a bit of exposure at a higher level where it's a bit more structured.
"When you've got the likes of Sophie Broadhead around here, who's an Australian rep player, you're definitely a bit nervous. It was good for them, and they enjoyed it."
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