Five Inverell Highlanders represented the UNE Lions in Canberra at the weekend in round two of the AON series.
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Rhiannon Byers, Leah Wilson, Sharna Povey, Emily Adams and Lauren Nott were included in the squad.
UNE Lions assistant coach Dale Beattie said the girls won two of four pool games.
“We were in a pretty strong pool playing games against the University of Queensland, Bond University, Canberra and Sydney University,” he said.
The girls suffered a 33-0 loss against University of Queensland before facing another loss against Bond University. The final score was a close 21-19.
“We were very unlucky to have lost against Bond. They kicked the goal on the bell to sneak home with a two-point victory.”
Bouncing back in game three, the UNE Lions secured a win against Canberra 19-17 and dominated in their last pool match.
Facing off with Sydney University the girls were able to secure a decent 27-5 victory.
The UNE Lions went on to beat Adelaide in the semi-finals 24-12 but faced defeat against Canberra in the final.
“We went into extra time as it was 10-all at full time but they were able to score, taking the win away from us.
“They were all very competitive games and our girls played extremely well. Byers in particular was a standout player.”
After playing the Central North grand final on Saturday, the local girls will head to Armidale for UNE Lions training camp before travelling to Brisbane the following weekend for round three.