It was a long wait for Tudor Wests on Sunday, but as the saying goes; it was worth the wait.
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Rebecca Willis' last minute strike earned them a share of the points in their Tamworth women's first grade clash after Services had looked destined for the win thanks to Lily Francis' goal in the first minute of the game.
Tudors had to come up with some important defensive touches to keep themselves in the contest - Lauren McGill saving one on the line in the last quarter - but were rewarded when after surviving a penalty corner (the shot hit the post) they went virtually straight up the other end and scored.
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Captain Christie Alexander was watching on from the back and was delighted to see the ball go in the net.
"It was a nice way to finish off the game after defending all game," she said.
Alexander is back in Tudors colours this season after moving to Tamworth for work. An occupational therapist, she played with them in 2018 while she was here for her work placement during her final year of uni.
With hockey a winter pastime for the Central Coast native since she got her first taste in minkey, when she learnt she was coming back to Tamworth she was quickly on the phone to Tudors coach Helen Willis to see if there was a spot available.
"It's really nice being back," she said.
"There is a few familiar faces and then a few of the girls I played with when I was in Newcastle as well."
"And everybody is that bit older and has a bit more experience under their belts and a bit more confidence."
She added it is also nice to see a few younger players coming through from the other grades "that will hopefully develop their skills a bit further and build their confidence this year".
She said the early goal, while "a little bit frustrating" probably "put the wind up us to get our heads back in the game".
From there it was a really strong defensive effort. They did have a few opportunities to equalise but were defending "for quite a lot of the game".
Being "a bit of a newer team" and still getting used to each other they were in the first half probably crowding each other a bit in attack. After talking about that at half-time, she thought, in the second half they opened up the gaps and threw the passes around a little bit more, which did create a few more chances.
Services coach Josh Worpel said they "made it hard" on themselves with too many turnovers.
"We sort of let them stay in the game," he said.
"There were stages there when we moved the ball well and we looked good but apart from that there was a lot of times where we just turned over way too much ball.".
"We tried to go too direct and that's when they were actually able to get the ball and go forward."
But it will come, he said.
They are a young side and missing a lot of experience and hockey knowledge with Sarah Dicker and Gabbi D'Ambros not playing this season. Captain Kim McLean was also out on Sunday.
"As long as they're willing to work it'll happen," he said.
Earlier Flames beat Olympians 2-nil while Waratahs edged out South United 2-1.
ROUND 2 RESULTS
Services 1 (Lily Francis gl) drew with Tudor Wests 1 (Rebecca Willis gl)
Flames 2 (Kim Resch, Ruby Spark gls) d Olympians 0
Waratahs 2 (Anita Collins, Hayley Lennon gls) d South United 1 (Emma Clifton gl)
