Thunderbolts' never-say-die attitude leads to John Martin final

The team, who remain unbeaten in their Waratah North East Junior League division, were expected to put on another strong performance over the weekend in Bathurst.

However, their momentum was slowed during their first clash against eventual champions, Moss Vale Magic.

With three wins from their first four games, Tamworth sat at second on the ladder when they took on first-placed Moss Vale in round five.

And, leading at half time, coach Scott Ward was pleased with the team's performance.

"We really came out of the gates firing against them," Ward said.

"Then they just wore us down and ended up getting the win in the end."

After their initial 39-54 loss to the Magic, the Thunderbolts rebounded with a win over Orange to round out the pool stage of the tournament.

Still in second place, Tamworth had qualified for the grand final on Monday. But after Hannah Hurley dislocated her knee in the penultimate fixture, the team was under-strength and mentally "a bit flat" leading in to the last game.

But that did not stifle their trademark grit.

"The girls never quit," Ward said.

"One of our girls in the first quarter came off with a cut lip, and another girl came off in the third with a bleeding nose.

"It was a fair battle, with a fair bit of physicality ... it was a challenging game."

Tamworth's 48-28 loss was a bitter pill to swallow, but Ward took a number of positives from the weekend as a whole.

The 18s girls' male counterparts also played the John Martin Country Tournament's Under 18s Premier Division, held in Maitland.

In a division higher than they normally play, with only six players available for the majority of the weekend, the under 18s boys struggled.

They lost all three of their round games, along with the first finals game. However, considering the scale of the adversity they faced, the Thunderbolts boys' defeats were narrow and Ward - who is also the president of the Tamworth Basketball Association - was pleased with the heart they showed.

"They were competitive," he said.

"Even with just the six players across the weekend, they were really competitive in the games they played and I think the lack of players wore them down.

"But they definitely gave a good showing of themselves."

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