Lower Great Southern Hockey quartet endure mixed start at Australian Country Championships in Victoria

WA Country men’s hockey side are on the board after defeating the Australian Defence Force at the Australian Country Championships in Shepparton, Victoria on Monday.

The WA team, containing Lower Great Southern trio Darren Parkes, Paul Stobie and Hayden Mills, dropped their first two games of the annual championships, losing 6-2 to New South Wales on Saturday before going down 3-1 to Queensland on Sunday.

They snapped that two-game losing streak with a vital 4-1 triumph over ADF as Bunbury’s Brayden Dalton netted two goals in the comfortable win.

WA secured a silver medal in last year’s country carnival held in Albany and will play their remaining qualifying games against Victoria and South Australia for a chance at redemption.

They face an tough task with Victoria recording significant back-to-back wins over ADF and SA to kick off their campaign.

Meanwhile, Lower Great Southern’s Georgina Lilford is playing for the WA women’s country side that have started their campaign on shaky ground.

Lilford pulled on State colours for the first time after overcoming injury and missing the 2021 championships which were cancelled because of COVID-19.

WA dropped their first three games to NSW, Queensland and ADF at the championships.

A heavy 9-0 defeat against NSW in their first game on Saturday set the tone with Amelia Leard firing in a brace for the silver-and-blue.

That disappointment was compounded further after a heavy defeat at the hands of Queensland on Sunday, conceding two goals in the first five minutes on their way to an 8-0 defeat.

Zarah Nash netted two goals in the rout for Queensland.

WA’s hopes of securing a maiden win were dealt another blow, slumping to a 3-0 defeat against ADF on Monday.

The ADF found goals through Alison Hogarth, Amy Smith and captain Fiona Young.

Finals will be played on Friday and then the medal matches on JU Saturday.