Acireale Memorial Tournament

Game 5: Australia vs. Greece

The Australian Born '93 junior men's team has recovered from a disappointing display against Croatia to go down 7-11 to Greece in their penultimate game at the Acireale Memorial Tournament in Italy.

The team were forced to regroup after an eight goal loss to Croatia earlier in the morning, and they did so being competitive, with glimpses of play required at this level.

Matt Perrot was again lively at left wing creating numerous attacking opportunities and scoring three goals, while Matthew Hannan continues his positive development.

"The match was fine for the first three quarters until they were able to execute better than us and get a few goals on the board in the last term," goal scorer George Ford said.

"We can take a lot from this game and like every game we have played it has been a good learning experience for us."

"I again demanded improvement from the boys and they responded well creating many scoring opportunities," a more content Duncan Greenbank said.

"It will be interesting to meet these teams again in two weeks where I suspect we will be more competitive."

Australia's last game is in the 7th versus 8th playoff against Montenegro tomorrow.

Australian Born '93

Gabriel Addley, George Ford, Stewart Greenbank, Callum Smith, Nathan Power, Matthew Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Fraser Smith, Tyler Sinclair, Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Connor Arnold, William Dayman. Coach: Duncan Greenbank

Result: Australia 7 lost to Greece 11

Qtrs: 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 2-4

X man for: 4 from 6

X man against: 8 from 9

AUS Scorers: Matthew Perrot 3, Matthew Hannan, George Ford, Connor Arnold, Callum Smith

AUS Best: Matt Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Gabriel Addley, Nathan Power

Game 4: Australia vs. Croatia

The Australian Born '93 junior men's team has gone down to Montenegro 4-12 in their fourth versus first playoff game at the Acireale Memorial Tournament in Italy.

The Aussie juniors appeared lethargic as they managed just one shot in the first quarter to allow Croatia a 6-0 lead at half time.

The boys did fight back in the final term taking it 2-1 but the Croatians were too dominant physically.

Victorians Lachlan Edwards and Matt Perrot worked tirelessly at centre forward to keep the team competitive, but it was all in vain.

Croatia and the other European nations appear in much better physical condition than the Australians as they approach their European Championships in a month's time.

Australian Born' 93

Gabriel Addley, George Ford, Stewart Greenbank, Callum Smith, Nathan Power, Matthew Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Fraser Smith, Tyler Sinclair, Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Anthony Hrysanthos, William Dayman. Coach: Duncan Greenbank

Result: Australia 4 lost to Croatia 12

Qtrs: 0-4, 0-2, 2-5, 2-1

X man for: 2 from 6

X man against: Croatia 6 from 8

AUS Scorers: Matthew Hannan, George Ford, Matthew Perrot, Lachlan Edwards

AUS Best: Matt Perrot, Lachlan Edwards, George Ford, Matthew Hannan

Game 3: Australia vs. Montenegro

The Australian Born '93 junior men's team has put in a gusty effort to go down 7-10 to Montenegro in their third game of the Acireale Memorial Tournament in Italy.

The Aussie boys stuck it to their European rivals levelling the scores at 2-2 at the first break, before 10 offensive fouls handed Montenegro the momentum.

A poor 7 from 22 conversion rate in front of goal also cost the Australians as Daniel Egan continued to impress with his great work ethic.

"It was excellent to see a vast improvement in our blocking which ultimately nullified Montenegro's outside shooters," coach Greenbank said.

"Unfortunately, though, we were caught making silly one on one errors which led to the overall result."

The boy's next game is against Hungary tomorrow.

Australian Born '93

Gabriel Addley, George Ford, Stewart Greenbank, Connor Arnold, Nathan Power, Matthew Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Callum Smith, Tyler Sinclair, Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Anthony Hrysanthos, William Dayman. Coach: Duncan Greenbank

Result: Australia 7 lost to Montenegro 10

Qtrs: 2-2, 1-3, 3-3, 1-2

X man for: 4 from 10

X man against: Montenegro 4 from 6

AUS Scorers: Daniel Egan 3, Lachlan Edwards 2, Matthew Hannan, Nathan Power

AUS Best: Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Tyler Sinclair, Stewart Greenbank

The junior boys training in the sea after the pool was closed on day one

Game 2: Australia vs. Italy

The Australian Born '93 junior men's team has gone down 5-12 to Italy in their second game of the Acireale Memorial Tournament in Italy.

The Aussie juniors stuck with the European champions in the opening half trailing by just two at the main break, before a 9-3 second half by the host saw them take the win.

Anthony Hrysanthos was excellent in goals making seven first half saves, while Lachlan Edwards created five extra man opportunities at centre forward and scored one.

In other results USA defeated Croatia and Hungary defeated Greece 15-6.

Australian Born '93

Gabriel Addley, George Ford, Stewart Greenbank, Connor Arnold, Nathan Power, Matthew Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Fraser Smith, Tyler Sinclair, Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Anthony Hrysanthos, William Dayman. Coach: Duncan Greenbank

Result: Australia 5 lost to Italy 12

Qtrs: 2-3, 0-1, 2-5, 1-4

X man for: 2 from 10

X man against: Italy scored 6 from 10

AUS Scorers: Daniel Egan, George Ford, Nathan Power, William Dayman, Lachlan Edwards

AUS Best: Anthony Hyrsanthos, Lachlan Edwards, George Ford, Matt Perrot, Daniel Egan

Game 1: Australia vs. Serbia

The Australian Born '93 junior men's team has gone down 15-6 to Serbia in their opening game of the Acireale Memorial Tournament in Italy.

The boys got off to a great start leading 3-2 midway through the opening term, before the Serbians unleashed a series of stunning counter attacks to seize control.

Australia tried valiantly to mount a comeback late in the match but could only manage a 2-2 final term.

Coach Duncan Greenbank was disappointed with the result but said it was a great learning curve for the guys against one of the best water polo nations in the world.

"Whilst the final score line is unacceptable, to be competitive for nearly a half of water polo with such an inexperienced team is encouraging," Greenbank said.

"We really let ourselves down though, by not sticking to the game plan which had worked so well for us early in the game."

Goalkeeper Anthony Hrysanthos agreed with Greenbank saying their defensive lapses proved costly.

"It was a great start to the game with an early lead, but some lapses allowed the Serbians to take control of the game," Hrysanthos said.

"We need to improve our blocking skills and defensive pressure and cut out the easy turnovers."

The tournament sees Italy, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, USA, Montenegro, and Australia go head to head in what is a vital lead up ahead of next year's FINA World Junior Championships.

Australia have two games tomorrow against Italy and Montenegro.

Australia Born '93

Gabriel Addley, George Ford, Stewart Greenbank, Connor Arnold, Nathan Power, Matthew Perrot, Matthew Hannan, Fraser Smith, Tyler Sinclair, Daniel Egan, Lachlan Edwards, Anthony Hrysanthos, Callum Smith. Coach: Duncan Greenbank

Result: Australia 6 lost to Serbia 15

Qtrs: 3-5, 1-4, 0-4, 2-2

X man for: 2 from 6

X man against: Serbia scored 5 from 7

AUS Scorers: Daniel Egan 2, George Ford, Nathan Power, Callum Smith, Lachlan Edwards

AUS Best: Daniel Egan, George Ford, Nathan Power

Australian Water Polo