Illawara South Coast’s drag-flicking prowess proved a decisive factor as Tamworth’s under-15s boys fell just short of the state indoor title on the Central Coast.
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The Garry Littlejohns-coached side was beaten 6-1 in the Division 1 final on Monday after earlier edging out Grafton 3-2 in their semi-final.
“That was a good result for us,” Littlejohns said adding that they always have tight tussles with them.
Grafton struck first but he always felt like they had control of the game.
They were though dealt a big blow for the final with Ryan Taggart injuring his hand in the last couple of minutes of the game.
A key cog in Tamworth’s attack, Littlejhohns said to his credit he did try to put his glove on and warm-up but he couldn’t hold his stick.
He had said heading into the championships that if they picked up any injuries it would make things challenging having only eight players to go away.
It left them with just the one sub and “a bit short up front”.
The south coast side were a strong and well-drilled outfit, Littlejohns said, but the game was far from the blowout the scoreline indicates.
“They’ve got the best drag-flicker in Australia in that age group,” he said.
“They played for corners.”
Five of their six goals came from corners. Outside of that it was a close contest.
“They didn’t have any more skill or finesse than us, but they play a lot more together and play a lot more indoor hockey – that was the difference,” Littlejohns said.
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Tamworth had finished top of their pool after accounting for Sydney South 1 (4-2), Central Coast (1) 8-3, North West Sydney (5-1) and Metro South West 1 (7-1).
“We had a really good weekend,” Littltejohns said.
The fact that they scored so many goals was particularly pleasing.
They were the top-scoring side through the pool stages, averaging six goals a game.
“Nick O’Connor was outstanding in front of goals but all the strikers played well,” he said, noting that some of less-experienced players really stood up.
In only his first year of indoor hockey Oscar Spinks was “very strong”, he said.
“Very proud of the boys, they gave it a red hot go,” Littlejohns said.
Playing in Division 2 the younger B’s side recorded a win, a draw and three losses.
