Sydney East may have claimed last week's NSW Combined High Schools Boys Football Championship last week, but the end result could have been very different had they not claimed a last-minute quarter-final victory over South Coast.
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The eventual champions scored in the final play of the game to defeat South Coast 1-0 in heartbreaking fashion.
South Coast coach Jason Jovanovski said it was a devastating way to be eliminated from the tournament, held in Berkeley, but was pleased with his side's effort.
"I felt we were capable of going all the way and I think the boys felt that as well," Jovanovski said. "That's why they were so devastated when we did lose in the last five seconds.
"The fact we finished sixth wasn't the greatest result, but overall I was pretty impressed with how we went considering the calibre of players we played against."
South Coast finished the competition in sixth place, with the side rebounding from the quarter-final heartbreak to defeat Western in a classification match before they fell to Sydney North in the fifth-placed playoff.
The side contained an even mix of year 10, 11 and 12 students, with the majority of the squad set to return to trial for selection in 2020.
For Jovanosvski, who was in his first year as coach of the squad, the team can only get better from here.
"The most impressive thing for me was the way we ended after the quarter-final loss. The boys in year 12 won't get this chance again, so I was impressed we were able to turn things around in a short period of time and put in a good performance in the second game."
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Wollongong student Nav Dajarni was rewarded for an impressive tournament with selection in the CHS Second XI to compete at the All Schools Championships later this month, while Sebastian Hernandez was named South Coast's MVP.
"Nav is a quiet-natured kid, I was impressed he'd done enough in the eyes of the selectors to get chosen in second squad for the CHS team. It's quite a pleasing moment for him, hopefully he'll put some good efforts in when they play in Sydney."
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