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Grand final defeat after late Geraldton goal sinks LGSHA

Headshot of Cameron Newbold
Cameron NewboldAlbany Advertiser
LGSHA’s Beck Gallimore in action.
Camera IconLGSHA’s Beck Gallimore in action. Credit: Hockey WA

Lower Great Southern Hockey Association have fallen agonisingly short of their maiden division 1 title at the 2018 CBH Group Women’s State Country Championships held in Perth at the weekend.

Chasing an elusive division 1 title, the LGSHA took a team stacked with young talent to the annual tournament where they faced Geraldton in Sunday’s grand final after an impressive path through the early rounds.

After a hard-fought first half where neither side could break the deadlock, Geraldton began to create more chances in the second half but a resolute LGSHA defence continued to snub them out.

Geraldton’s Gemma Dix went close to scoring and some desperate defending on the goal line moments later again prevented Geraldton from hitting the front.

Chances to score were hard to come by for either side as the match appeared headed for a shootout before Mikala Cooper stepped up to break the LGSHA hearts.

Cooper struck a powerful shot into the bottom right-hand corner to beat LGSHA goalie Bonnie Crook with just two minutes left in the match.

That proved the match winner as Geraldton prevailed 1-0 to clinch another title, defeating LGSHA for the second time in three years.

It was another narrow grand final loss for LGSHA, their fourth appearance in the decider in the past six years.

LGSHA progressed to the final after winning a thrilling crossover match against Bunbury on Saturday afternoon.

The two sides were locked together at 1-1 after normal time, sending the match to shootouts.

Crook was outstanding in the one-on-one shootout situation as she produced a number of superb saves to help her side secure a 4-2 win.

Sophie McDonald and sisters Georgie and Charlotte Powis were the LGSHA’s better players in the triumph.

Earlier the LGSHA finished on top of pool A after two wins and a draw in their round robin games.

In their first match on Friday, Cionne Fage scored twice along with goals from Beck Gallimore and youngster Tallulah Gouldthorp as they downed Roe Districts 4-1 with McDonald, Jess Gallimore and Gouldthorp all impressive.

Later they drew 3-3 with Busselton, Beck Gallimore scoring twice to go with strong contributions from Georgie Powis and Laura Archer.

On Saturday a sole LGSHA goal was enough to beat Eastern Goldfields and top their pool after a 1-0 result.

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