TAMWORTH returned from Grafton empty-handed but with two near misses from the State Under 13 Girls’ Hockey Championships.
While the Richard Willis-coached 13As were beaten in their semi-final, the Helen Willis-coached Tamworth Bs lost their C Division Final 1-nil to Southern Highlands yesterday afternoon.
A 1-all draw yesterday morning was good enough to earn them a final berth as they had finished first in their pool.
Helen Willis said the young side did well to make the final.
“It was hot here as well and the girls had to play in that as well as on the grass (natural) field,” Willis said.
“They played really well too.
“It was a great team effort and they were unlucky in the final.
“They had a couple of good shots on goal that just wouldn’t go in.”
Centre half Taylor King was one of the side’s best along with inside forwards Treenie Osborne and Millie Bell with Katie Salter “solid in defence”.
“Izzy Ambrose was also good on the wing,” Willis said.
There was a silver lining to the final loss, the side earning elevation to B Division next year.
Earlier in the day the Tamworth A side lost its A Division semi final 4-2 to Illawarra in a game that was locked 2-all with 10 minutes to go, Richard Willis said.
“They (Illawarra) had a very good, athletic striker – she had two chances and took them,” he said.
“She was very classy. In saying that though, I thought our girls played the better style of hockey.
“Plus it’s been a long weekend with five games and we did lose Minnie Arnott on the first day so were down to 12.”
He thought Emm Chaffey (centre half) and Abigail Doolan (inside right) had standout games while Beth Tankard was excellent in defence.