It was a tight tussle, with Tudors up by one at half-time and Shelby Hatch’s strike with about 10 minutes to go the only thing splitting the sides as Tudors took the points 3-2.

They didn’t play that well, coach Brad Hall said, but they got the result.

“We didn’t start really well,” he said.

Flames were first on the board.

“We got going a bit when we conceded that first goal,” Hall said. “I thought we upped the intensity and got back into the match.”

They scored twice to hold the advantage at the break.

The second half was almost a repeat of the first.

“Again we started a bit slowly and Flames came out and scored,” Hall said.

“Again we responded pretty well.”

He said the focus at half-time was on holding the ball a little bit more. They were a little bit direct in the first half.

He thought they scrambled well defensively the whole game.

Esther Griffiths was good for them. 

Em Lockyer was also creative pushing forward in attack.

The Askey girls – Sarah and Claire – also had strong games.

Em Jarrett was also good in goals and kept them in the game.

Flames coach Phil Frear was delighted with their game and felt they were unlucky not to at least get a draw.

“They played the best game I’ve seen them play since I’ve had them,” he said.

“They possessed the ball, moved the ball around the field and used the short ball.

“They played good structured, possession hockey.”

He thought they were the better team and had probably double the opportunities that Tudors did.

But they just couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard.

“We were just unlucky in the circle,” Frear said.

Shots were going wide, hitting players in the leg, hitting the post.

Tegan Smith was outstanding, Frear said.

“She played a great game, as did Bek May,” he said.

Mel Allen also played very well.

“There wasn’t a bad player on the field,” Frear said.

He felt wins wouldn’t be too far away if they keep playing like they did.