Port Macquarie went oh-so-close to claiming a rare division two NSW Senior Oztag State Cup title on May 16 at Coffs Harbour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The association's women's 20s team scored first in the grand final before they ran out of legs in a heartstopping 2-1 extra-time drop-off defeat to Baulkham Hills.
Coach Teleah Waitoa said the Sharks scored the first try of the match, but couldn't hold on to round out a tournament that saw them register four wins, three losses and a draw from their eight matches.
"We're only a new team so it was a bit unexpected; they were the first team to represent Port Macquarie in that division," Waitoa said.
"Training was hard leading up to it because a couple of the girls live away for uni so they couldn't make training which was hard.
"Then we lost a girl who moved to New Zealand from the team we originally had for the competition in March before it was postponed due to the floods."
Another two players withdrew which left them fielding 15 for the tournament before it became 14 when Madi Coghlan rolled her ankle in the first set of the first game.
"Leilani and Shelby Grainger were strong all weekend and led from the front, Georgia Warren and Tekirra Kinnaird had good defence and Maya Marino and Shontai Fernando had great cover defence," the coach said.
"Their performances got better across the three days."
Port Macquarie were also represented in the men's 45s for the first time in a long time although they didn't progress to finals day.
The men's 30s played with 11 players all weekend and made the semi-finals of division two before Central Coast claimed a 4-3 win.
The Central Coast then won the grand final.
Senior mixed progressed to the semi-finals where they were beaten 5-2 by Penrith 1.
What else is happening in news, sport?
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark our website
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- You can support us with a subscription
- Follow us on Twitter: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Instagram: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Google News