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It's a 'bloody long' way from Port Macquarie to Orange - 600 kilometres or a little over nine hours when you take into consideration rest stops, to be precise.
But in the end the road trip was worth it for Port Macquarie-Hastings Hockey Association's under-15 boys when they claimed the division two Hockey NSW indoor state title last weekend.
A 5-2 victory over Goulburn in the final capped off an undefeated tournament where they won six from six and scored 44 goals in the process.
They only conceded five.
Not bad for a team that has limited resources by way of practising for a tournament of its kind, according to team manager Graeme Ferguson.
"Our boys did punch above their weight and were the surprise packet of the weekend," Ferguson said.
"We were lucky enough that St Columba Anglican School allowed us to train in their halls for about five weeks leading up to it."
That certainly helped.
Ferguson said while Port Macquarie has registered previous success at indoor hockey tournaments before, it is completely different to the outdoor format.
It's less field hockey and more ice hockey.
"It's only five players and a goalkeeper on the court at any one time so it's really fast and more exciting although you can't hit the ball, it's more slide the ball or push the ball," he said.
"It's more like ice hockey almost where the ball stays in play a lot."
Captain Tobias Toohey led the way as Port Macquarie registered wins over Bathurst (9-0), Goulburn (6-2), Northern Sydney Beaches (11-0) and Illawarra South Coast (9-0) in their pool games.
They found the going a little tougher in the semi-finals and grand final with wins over Sydney East (4-1) and then another win over Goulburn.
"It's a bloody long trip, but a worthwhile one in the end," Ferguson said.
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