BATHURST has been named joint division two winners at the Hockey NSW Under 13s girls Field State Championships after going undefeated through the three-day competition.
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Staged in Taree, Bathurst won each of its four pool games and went on to play out a nil-draw with Newcastle 1 in Sunday’s final to be declared joint winners.
The girls in white and lime green conceded just two goals the entire tournament as the whole squad impressed, the result meaning Bathurst earns promotion to the top division for 2019.
“There were some very tough teams in there. Our girls were up against a lot of the Sydney teams and Newcastle is always a tough one too,” manager Lisa Weal said.
“It was a tough draw for them, but they did very well.
“They’d been performing well all year, they are quite a strong team and we always thought they had a pretty good chance of finishing up there. It was great, they proved us right.”
Bathurst opened its campaign with a 2-1 victory against the strong Newcastle 1 side before going on to beat Far North Coast 5-0 later that day in efforts which pleased joint coaches Trevor Weal and Mal Willott.
On Saturday two more wins followed – downing North West Sydney 2-0 and North Sydney and Beaches 2 1-0 – to see them finish top of their pool.
It was a record that proved important after drawing 1-all with New England 1 in Sunday morning’s semi-final.
“Because we finished higher on the table we actually went through to the final, they don’t play extra time,” Lisa Weal explained.
“Our girls had a lot of chances in that game, they just couldn’t quite get past the defence. They actually had the majority of the chances in that game.”
It set up a rematch with Newcastle 1 in the decider and with neither side able to score, they were declared joint victors.
“Again it was a pretty tough game, and we certainly had our chances in that as well,” the manager said.
“Both teams had their chances definitely, we probably had a bit more attack overall and had a lot of short corners, but we couldn’t quite get it in.
“Six games of hockey in three days, so there were some very exhausted girls at the end of it all.
“We had 14 girls in our teams and they all played exceptionally well, each and every single one of them.”
On Tuesday there was more good news for three members of the team with Lily Kable, Macey Fulton and Charlize Fitzpatrick all named in the Hockey NSW under 13s girls state squad.
