Tamworth Oztag officials are hopeful of scoring well at the selection table when the Country sides are named following a a record-breaking effort from the Taipans at the recent State Cup.
Eight of the nine sides Tamworth sent to Coffs Harbour reached either the quarter and semi-finals.
Unfortunately none advanced through to the final of their respective division, but not without, as Tamworth Oztag’s Pam Potts reported “putting up a decent fight”.
“Scorelines were close and could have really been any team’s game,” Potts said.
“Gone are the days of struggling to compete in many divisions let alone making Sunday for quarters and semis. We are up there with the best of the metro sides now competing at an entirely different level.”
Due to the extreme wet weather and closure of a number of the fields games were reduced to 20 minutes with the exception of Sunday where for the finals they played 15 minute halves.
There was also no room for extra-time, meaning in the event of a draw the highest-placed team advanced.
The under-20s mixed were caught out by that after drawing 2-all with the Central Coast. As the coastal side finished higher after the round games they progressed through.
The under-20s women were knocked out by South West 2-nil. Potts said it was a fantastic effort from what was – bar two players – a brand new team.
The open mixed bowed out in the quarter-finals after a nail-biting loss to Parramatta. Turning around an 11-4 defeat in the round games, the Taipans led 2-nil before going down 3-2. The senior mixed were unable to match their grand final showing of the previous tournament but were competitive, their campaign ending with a 5-2 loss to Lake Macquarie.
The masters women again made it through to the semi-finals where they went down to South West 4-1.
The 40s men did it tough over the weekend with injuries. After starting with only four subs they were by the end down to two, although one of the injured players battled on to “give the boys a breather” as they were defeated 5-1 by Norwest.
“It was a great effort considering player numbers were a little light on and they should be proud of their results,” Potts said.
The 45s men had some mixed results over the weekend and finished with a 4-2 loss to Port Macquarie.
The 50s men were meanwhile unlucky to miss out on going any further going down to Coffs Harbour 4-3.
The teams were accompanied by a big refereeing contingent, four of which were selected to look after a final with Tony Mumford refereeing the open mens, Ryan Schmiedel the open womens, Rod Fensbo the womens seniors and Brian Bolton the 55s mens.
