PORT Macquarie finished fifth, but they did push eventual winners Manning Valley all the way in the under-15 indoor hockey state titles.
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In their final pool match before the finals, Port Macquarie led 4-1 at half-time of their under-15 boys clash with their Taree.
All it took was a last-second short corner that found its way into the back of the net as full-time sounded to separate the two sides.
Last year Port Macquarie’s under-13 girls team won the association’s first-ever title at Orange, but it wasn’t to be for the under-15s this year.
The 5-4 defeat was as close as anyone got to Manning Valley and a performance team manager Treena Heslop was thrilled with.
Manning Valley conceded five goals in six matches with four of those coming in the clash with Port Macquarie.
“We just missed out on being in the top four,” Heslop said.
“The game against Manning was our best performance and we probably took them a little bit by surprise.”
A 5-1 opening-round victory over Central Coast ensured Port Macquarie got off to the best possible start before they registered a hard-fought 3-2 defeat at the hands of Illawarra-South Coast on day one.
They mirrored their results on day two with a 6-2 win over Newcastle cancelled out by the 5-4 defeat by Manning Valley.
Port Macquarie finished third in Pool A with a two win, two loss record before they accounted for Orange 5-2 in the play-off for fifth position.
They finished with a mammoth 22 goals scored in attack in five matches.
Adam Rhook was the team’s leading scorer while Riley Johnston was the most improved and the surprise packet of the team.
“We were in division two last year as well, but the boys went a bit better this year,” Heslop said.
The fifth-place finish was an encouraging result as Port Macquarie only headed to the tournament with seven players – most of their opponents had nine in their squads.
Port Macquarie’s under-15 girls team also finished in the middle of their pool after claiming one win, one draw and three losses in their five matches.
It was a case of what might have been for team manager Larissa Toohey with the biggest defeat coming in two matches where two-goals were the difference.
A 2-1 finals defeat to Parkes saw them also finish in fifth position.
“We probably didn’t think they would go quite so well, but we played a bit more defensive for most of our games,” Toohey said.
Most of the Port Macquarie girls will return for next year’s state titles.
“We had a pretty young team, but a lot of them will play again next year.”
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