Hockey: Tamworth men fall just short of state championships final

Facing Newcastle for a spot in the final, Isaac Farmilo put the Frogs up 1-nil at the first break with a well-struck penalty corner flick after the bell. They held that advantage until the final quarter with Newcastle returning serve after the buzzer to end the third quarter.

Tamworth keeper, and coach, Andrew Kelly saved the initial shot but couldn't stop the rebound as Newcastle tied up the scores up at 1-all.

Unable to break the deadlock the Frogs bowed out with Newcastle progressing as the side that finished higher in their pool (Tamworth finished second in theirs).

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"The boys are a bit devastated but they certainly gave it a crack," Woodley said.

He couldn't fault their effort.

"I don't know whether I've ever seen an effort like that before," he said.

"It was just to the end exceptional, right across the park."

"It was the Froggy way"

They were for 10 minutes down to 10 but dug in to hold Newcastle out.

On what they had seen, they did fancy their chances but probably didn't make enough of their opportunities.

"The defence and the work in the midfield was fantastic," Woodley said

"We just didn't get enough results when we did get into the circle."

"We probably had one of the best short corner batteries here."

They only earned the corner they did score off, but had to negate several.

Led by Kelly, who Woodley said had "an unbelievable tournament", their defence in general across the tournament, particularly Sunday and Monday, was great.

In three games they scored nine goals and only conceded one.

They had just the one loss for the tournament, that coming against eventual champions Illawarra/South Coast in their second game.

"It's really good for Tamworth to be right at the top again," Woodley said.

The Tamworth women meanwhile finished eighth in Division 1 after going down to Bathurst 4-nil in their play-off game on Monday.