Tamworth keeper Em Grellman stretches to stop this goal. Photo: Robert Chappel 220912RCA113
THE Tamworth teams got a lot out of the weekend’s Southgate Inn tournament.
They mightn’t have finished with the spoils but all four teams learnt a lot.
It’s not every day you get the opportunity to play against a National League side, or two of them.
Tamworth teams figured in both finals but found the Hunter Hurricanes a bit too hot to handle, with the open men going down 12-1 and the Tamworth (1) women 6-3 after being 2-all at one stage.
The hosts entered two sides in the women’s competition, and both did well, coach Ross White said.
“It was an excellent effort. They really tried hard,” he said.
The younger 2s side was mostly filled up with 14 to16-year-olds and will form the basis of the U16s rep team.
“That was a learning tournament for those ones,” he said.
He saw a lot of improvement in them over the weekend, particularly in their general tactics and how they defended.
The 1’s just probably lacked a bit of fitness, he said, but it is only very early in the season for them.
“I was really happy with the way they went. They didn’t let themselves down,” White said.
“They played really well.”
The likes of Laura Robinson, Morgan Rowbottom and Emily Grellman showed the benefit of their rep experience over the off-season and were among their best.
The side was mostly the U18s with a couple of older players, and several will be involved in the U20s at the championships coming up in November.
The carnival provided some good signs for those.
“They (Hurricanes) are a National League side,” White said.
“We held our own. That was pleasing.”
Their results against them showed an improvement over the carnival.
“We had more shots at them in the grand final than in the two games on Saturday,” White said.
The Hunter side just “took off quicker”.
“If we gave a turnover they were away,” he said.
“But our defence was good. The patterns I asked them to play they did, and they got quite a few turnovers.”
For the men’s sides the weekend was also a chance for them to have a hit-out and get some game time against tough opposition, especially the open men.
Most of them will go away with the Tamworth U20s.