DAY TWO SUMMARY

Day two started nice and early, although the weather was already shaping up to be a hot one.

With field one almost completely taken by Australia v New Zealand matches for the entire day, it was sure to be a brilliant day of competition.

But despite all of the brilliant competition, there was a story from day two that eclipsed all others. That was, the story of Alfie...

You see Alfie is a pet white and grey Cockatiel. He unexpectedly flew through the door of the Quad Park office on day two, obviously keen for a little bit of Touch action.

After a few minutes of sitting on our shoulders, whistling at us, letting us pat him, it became obvious he was a much loved pet bird.

Keen to find an owner we jumped on the phone to the local radio station, who immediately broadcast our announcement around the Sunshine area.

Within minutes we had a call from a listener, who had recently found a `lost bird flier' for the cockatiel in question. The listener rang the concerned bird owner, who later arrived at Quad Park to collect their long lost bird.

It turned out that `Alfie' (as we discovered he was called), had been missing for 6 weeks. The owners had given up hope that he was still alive after their flier efforts had come to no avail.

But today in the middle of the Youth World Cup, Alfie made his way home. It may sound corny but it was great.

The day of Touch began early with just one match, Australian Mens 18's against the South African 18's. The South African boys proved they are only getting better and are sure to be a force in the future, scoring early and sending a ripple of panic through the Aussie 18's camp.

After a tough day yesterday, including a loss to the Kiwi's, the Aussie 18's recovered to win comfortably 14-2. Ji Bonner and Dane Evans each scored four touchdowns.

Round two started with an upset for Australia with the Womens Under 18's being beaten by the New Zealanders 7-4.

The Kiwi's were victorious all over the park in the 9.30am timeslot with the Womens 20's defeating South Africa Women's 20's 14-1.

The New Zealand Under 18's Men defeated Norfolk Island 15-2. The 15 touchdowns were spread throughout the team, with all but 5 players scoring in that match.

The Australian Women's 20's continued their good form with a 15-0 victory over the South African Women's 18's. The girls continue to dominate the Women's draw, their biggest test will come this afternoon against the Kiwi's which is set to be a cracker.

Round three of day two at the Youth World Cup saw the Kiwi Under 18's mixed convincingly beat the Australian 18's mixed 12-3. This defeat will make the finals very interesting with Australia needing to lift their game to challenge the New Zealanders. Tane Puki scored three touchdowns for New Zealand.

The Australian Under 20's mixed were victorious over Thailand with the biggest winning margin of the tournament so far, 26-1. Matt Baker and Matt McDonald from Australia scored an impressive five touchdowns each. They will be looking to continue their success into this afternoon when they take on the Kiwi's Mixed 20's.

The New Zealand Mixed Under 20's also go into their game against Australia on the end of a winning match. They defeated Cook Islands Mixed 20's 9-2.

After a refreshing break due to the heat players took to the field for the 2.00pm timeslot.

The Australian Under 20's Men's team recorded a good win over the South Africans 10-2. They will be hoping to continue their good form into their match against the Kiwi's at 6.00pm.

The Kiwi's Mens 20's will also be confident going into the match after beating Lebanon 11-1.

Australia's Under 18's Men had another disappointing loss to the Kiwi's, going down 8-3. The Kiwi's entered the match clear favourites after beating the Aussies yesterday 5-1.

The Aussies will be hoping to improve before the start of the finals tomorrow afternoon.

Norfolk Island recorded a good win 12-2 over South Africa in the Mens Under 20's division. The win is a positive for the team, who are making their International debut here at the Youth World Cup.

The New Zealand Womens 18's continued their strong form with an 18-0 win over South Africa, Keisha Grant again dominating with another three touchdowns.

The Australian Womens 20's took back some Australian pride, with a win over their New Zealand opponents, 5-2 with Mel McAll running in three touchdowns for the Aussies.

Nikki Etheridge also scored three times for the Aussie Womens 18's, who finished 14-0 winners over the South African 18's in their last match of day two.

In the final round of Mixed games, the Australian 18's had an easy 13-0 win over the Cook Islands 18, with Jerome Waitohi scoring four touchdowns.

The Australian and New Zealand 20's played out a tight 4-2 match, with a five minute lapse in concentration from Australia giving the match away. The expected re-match in the grand final is sure to be tight.

The New Zealand Mixed 18's served Thailand another massive loss 24-0, with Lambros To omaga scoring five times. Despite the big losses against the strength and experience of the Aussies and Kiwis, no doubt the Thai sides will continue to improve in the years to come.

The Mens 20's closed day two of competition with two great matches. The Samoans and South Africa fought out a 2-2 draw, a fantastic match for two developing nations, again showing their potential and growth.

In the highly anticipated New Zealand verse Australia match-up, the Aussie men showed they have what it takes to bring the Mens 20's title back from Kiwi hands, where it has sat since 2001. An impressive 6-2 win promising a great third day of competition and also finals day.

By Rachel Moyle, media@austouch.com.au

LINKS:
Youth World Cup stories will be on the homepage, www.austouch.com.au as well as archived under the link `Tournaments' then `International Events' on the left hand side of the homepage. Simply follow the links to the 2005 Youth World Cup stories.

For other Youth World Cup stories check out the Federation of International Touch site using the following link:
FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL TOUCH


For all the latest results check out the SportingPulse site using the following link:SPORTINGPULSE RESULTS/DRAW HOMEPAGE