A monumental effort in the third quarter has seen NSW State rally from a two-goal deficit to claim a thrilling 4-2 victory against rivals Queensland Maroon.
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Having won its three previous games against Victoria Development 5-1, Western Australia Black 4-1 and ACT 3-0, NSW State found itself trailing 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Maroon talents Cooper Mackenzie and captain Dominic Anderson.
The half-time team talk from Kieran Knowles must've worked wonders because it took just 12 minutes for the NSW State team - which featured Bathurst native Ollie Bestwick - to not only draw level but pull out to a two-goal lead.
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NSW State assistant coach Josh Chapple said the third quarter turnout was fantastic.
"It was unreal actually. We've been trying to push the standard with the boys and I think they played well in that third quarter," he said.
"It was a really big challenge being 2-0 down and they showed a lot of character and showed what they can do it that third quarter."
Trailing by two goals was not ideal for Chapple, especially considering his team had enjoyed the run of play.
"We had a couple of goals against, but unfortunately these things happen," he said.
"They picked their heads up really well after going two goals down."
The result now gives NSW State a perfect record after four matches.
"It's nice to be able to focus on winning games and you sort of look at how the boys are playing after that, not really worrying about anything else," he said.
"When the results are coming through, it's good."
No matter what sport it is, there's always a heated rivalry between NSW and Queensland and that was no different on Sunday, with Chapple being pleased that his team could beat its northern neighbours.
"It's always a good rivalry against Queensland. We made sure the boys were feeling that at the start of the game, so it's really rewarding to get a win, especially against such a good opposition," he said.
The first goal for NSW came three minutes into the third quarter when Brayden Sutherland scored and the momentum was well and truly with NSW after Joshua Robson equalised two minutes later.
NSW State won a penalty stroke on the eighth minute mark and captain Oskar Smith stepped up to the task and slotted it past Maroon goalkeeper Brock Philip.
Queensland almost equalised after some quick thinking had Matthew Hawthorne one-on-one with NSW goalkeeper Ashley Dimmock, but he was denied after a fantastic save.
And NSW State took advantage of Queensland's missed chance, bringing the ball down the other end for Sutherland to work his way around the Maroon defence and score his second goal of the match.
NSW State is now sitting pretty on top of pool B, four points clear of its nearest rival Tasmania, with every team having played four games so far during the competition.
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