Tamworth Public School’s girls hockey side embodied the saying that a champion team will beat a team of champions as they won the State PSSA title for the first time at Narellan last week.
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After thrashing Dubbo South 7-nil in their semi-final, the Sally Burrows-coached side accounted for Grafton Public 5-3 in the final to claim the silverware. They set the victory up in the first half, establishing a 3-nil lead at the break.
“We scored early in the game and really just dominated,” Burrows said.
“We had all the possession. We were nearly always in our scoring circle.”
“The girls were just persistent, they were amazing.”
She also applauded the way they played as a team.
“The key to our team was it was a whole team not just one star,” she said.
“They played such a classic team game, passing across the field and using all the other players.”
That was the case the whole campaign, and reflected at both ends of the field.
“They scored 59 goals in the eight games they played and only had five scored against them,” Burrows said.
“It was an incredible balance of incredible defence and incredible attack.”
She said they just frustrated Grafton. A big part of that frustration stemmed from their ability to shut their captain and state player out of the game.
Conscious of the threat she posed and how much Grafton based their game around her, Burrows said they sacrificed two players to just sit on her the whole game.
“Our rule was 10cm,” she said.
They even had a code word if she wasn’t being marked.
“If someone wasn’t marking her they yelled out pineapple,” Burrows said.
A mixture of girls from Year 5 and 6, Burrows said they all play hockey, which helped.
“The girls just love their hockey,” she said.
That was evident in the way they played.
They also a created a really positive and fun atmosphere on and off the field.
“We have red frogs at half-time,” Burrows said.
“They (also) sing this TPS chant before they run on the field at full-time and half-time. It gets them focused and excited. The girls invented that last year.”