Tamworth Frogs Under 15s 'a little bit disappointed' after upset

The Tamworth Frogs Under 15s Girls' semi-final finish in division one last weekend was, however, "a little bit disappointing" according to coach Greg Doolan.

The team, which was stacked full of talented young prospects, was confident about its chances of making the grand final.

And after powering through their first four games undefeated, with two wins and two draws, the Frogs qualified for Sunday's semi-final against North West Sydney.

But a litany of factors conspired against the Tamworth girls, which left them unable to produce their best hockey on the day of the final.

"We had a late game on the Saturday night that we had to win to make the semi-final," Doolan said.

"We won 2-0 [against Sydney South], and it was probably our best game, but we didn't finish until about 8.30 at night ... we ended up eating late on the Saturday night and we had a short turnaround to the semi-final on Sunday.

"I think that affected our sleep patterns and our refueling, which affected our game on Sunday. That was probably our worst game of the weekend, we didn't have the energy and the enthusiasm."

Though Doolan said "making any finals is good", he acknowledged that several players in the team were "quite upset" with their performances on Sunday.

"I think they were really happy with their tournament up until the semi-final," he said.

"There were a few girls that were quite upset after the game, but I think that's not because we lost. I think they knew that it wasn't their best game. And that's a good thing for young athletes to realise."

Despite their narrow defeat, Doolan said the players will still take valuable lessons from their State Championship bid, which is the most important aspect of such tournaments for young players.

It was, however, not all disappointment for Frogs player Makenna Barnett-Suey, who was named the Player of the Tournament for her efforts on the pitch.

The Frogs' division three team also lost their semi-final, 1-0 against Hockey Coffs Coast.

In other good news for the region, the Hockey New England teams won division two and were runners-up in division four.

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