Lower Great Southern Hockey Association win third place playoff in CBH Country Championships competition

The Lower Great Southern Hockey Association fell short of division one title glory at the weekend, narrowly losing their semifinal clash against eventual winners Geraldton on penalties at the CBH Group Women’s Country Championships in Perth on Saturday. The side finished their weekend on a positive note, however, winning their third place playoff clash against last year’s champions Bunbury in the final game on Sunday. Lower Great Southern won one of their three qualifying games to finish third in the standings heading into the finals and despite a Georgina Lillford strike in an eventful semifinal that finished 1-1, Geraldton prevailed 4-3 in a thrilling shootout to advance to the decider. Geraldton went on to defeat Upper Great Southern in the grand final in a 1-0 win courtesy of a last-gasp strike in the final 30 seconds. In the qualifying matches, the Lower Great Southern squad went down 2-0 to Bunbury in the first round before slumping to a 1-0 loss to Geraldton but then notched their first victory over Upper Great Southern with a 2-1 win on Saturday. Young talent Lauren Spinks shone in the third place playoff against Bunbury on Sunday, scoring the only goal of the match in the 1-0 triumph. Spinks received the ball on the edge of the goal-circle and rattled in a brilliant strike late in the second-half which would ultimately prove the difference between the two rivals. Despite Bunbury going undefeated in all of their qualifying matches, their loss to Lower Great Southern meant they ended their campaign in fourth place. Division one coach Darren Parkes said despite not winning the earlier semifinal, the side played free-flowing hockey and had plenty of chances to pull off a win. “It was disappointing to lose in the sudden-death shootout, they (Geraldton) had a really talented goal-keeper and we couldn’t pull it off unfortunately,” he said. “It was definitely a bummer to lose because we had all the shots and all the play. “We had our chances but we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net enough. “Full credit to Geraldton’s goalkeeper, she was brilliant.” Parkes lauded his side’s effort in their final clash on Sunday. “To come in and play against a Bunbury side that won every qualifying game, I was really impressed with the girls,” he said. “It was probably one of the best games I’ve seen them play. “Everyone stood out, Beck (Gallimore) played very well, Michelle Ericsson wound back the clock and absolutely shone. “Casey (Gabriel) controlled our backline really well and our new goalkeeper Corline (Le Grange) did very well also.”