THE best women’s country hockey teams converged on Mate Stadium in Adelaide for the annual Country Championships held last weekend.
The Lower South East took on Barossa, Tatiara and Yorke Peninsula on Day 1.
LSE claimed a 2-1 win in the first game after a nervous start.
This was followed up with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Tatiara and finished the day with a dominant 4-0 win over Yorke Peninsula.
The first game of the second day saw the Lower South East take on Port Pirie.
The women dug deep to claim a fourth victory as they held on to win 1-0.
In the final minor round game, LSE took on Riverland in a high-scoring encounter.
Riverland prevailed with a last-minute goal to win 5-4.
This set up a rematch for the final between these two sides.
Riverland jumped out of the blocks early and scored an early goal to put the Lower South East on the back foot.
LSE found ways to counter-attack through Ebony Ballantyne and Ange Broad, while Steph Wighton and Olivia Turner ran tirelessly.
However, Lower South East’s defence was once again broken through and goalkeeper Kate Fabian was forced to make a save but it was all in vain as Riverland pounced to make it 2-0 before the main break.
LSE started the second half strongly and found the breakthrough after four minutes.
Dana Jones was moved into attack in the second half and the tactical change soon payed off as she set up the equaliser.
With five minutes remaining, the game remained in the balance but LSE proved why it is the powerhouse of women’s hockey as David Vine’s side took the lead.
They soon put the icing on the cake with a fourth goal late in proceedings to seal the championship for the Lower South East.
Olivia Turner was named player of the final.
