After hammering the Tamworth 1’s 11-2 in their semi-final on Sunday morning, the Lions were pipped by North West Sydney (1) 5-4 in the final.

“It was disappointing they didn’t come away with the win,” Northern Inland Regional Coaching Coordinator Greg Doolan said.

“They deserved it.”

Also the Tamworth 1’s coach, Doolan said they were outgunned by their northern rivals in the semi.

“They were far more intense. They gave us a bit of a lesson on how to play indoor hockey,” he said.

Tamworth had finished second in their pool after thrashing Dubbo 12-nil in their final pool game on Saturday night.

With a win, a draw and a loss heading into the Dubbo game, they not only needed to win but by around 10 goals.

“We passed the ball around and played nice distribution hockey in that game,” Doolan said.

He thought it was an encouraging campaign, and said the boys learnt a fair amount as the tournament progressed.

But he admits there is still a bit of work to do if they want to be indoor hockey players.

It is a different game and more explosive.

“We’ve definitely got the skill and ability, it’s just knowing and learning the game,” he said.

That can only come with playing the game.

“The more you play the more you understand,” he said.

Tamworth’s under 15 boys were hammered by New England 11-2 in their State Indoor Hockey Championship Division 1 semi-final at the Central Coast on Sunday morning.

After thrashing Dubbo 12-nil in their final pool game on Saturday night to finish second in their pool, the Tamworth boys were outgunned by a red-hot Armidale side that were undefeated in their four pool games.

Playing in Division 2, the Tamworth 2 boys finished with a win and three losses.

The Tamworth girls meanwhile recorded a win and a loss in their opening two games on Saturday.

After a first-up 4-1 loss to North West Sydney (1), the Garry Littlejohns-coached side beat Hockey New England 2-1.

They will be hoping to pick up where they left off on Sunday afternoon when they face Metro South West (1) at 4.20pm.

They then play Southern Highlands at 8.30pm on Sunday night.

Tamworth’s under 15 boys and girls sides are shooting for State U15 Indoor Hockey Championship success on the Central Coast this weekend.

The Garry Littlejohns-coached girls side are contesting Division 1 and have been drawn in Pool B alongside North West Sydney (1) and Hockey New England, who they play on Saturday, Metro South West and Southern Highlands.

The boys championships got underway on Friday.

Both Tamworth sides picked up at least a win on the opening day with the one side beating Illawarra South Coast (1) 7-2 before going down to Newcastle (1) 7-4 and drawing 5-all with Central Coast (1).

They play their final pool match against Dubbo on Saturday night.

Playing in Division 2, the twos edged out Central Coast (2) 3-2 in between losses to Port Macquarie Hastings (6-2) and Parkes (1) 7-4.

New England were meanwhile leading the way in their pool in Division 1 with three wins from three on Friday.