FINISHING one step short of a grand final is disappointing, Ex-Services coach Mitch Kennewell didn’t mix his words about that, but considering his side didn’t really click until the women’s Premier League Hockey finals, third place was a good result for the blue and golds.
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Ex-Services’ season finished in the most heartbreaking of fashions in last weekend’s preliminary final, losing to Bathurst City in a nail-biting shootout at Bathurst’s Cooke Hockey Complex.
“I’m really pleased with that result overall,” Kennewell said.
“Obviously the players were really disappointed after the game, but they did really well all year considering we had a lot of injuries and that type of thing.
“I think a couple more games during the regular season would have helped us really nail down the style we were wanting to play and that kind of thing, it only really clicked in the finals.
“It was a tough ask for them going into the finals without a lot of consistency but they played really well in those last couple of games, under the pressure of sudden-death finals.”
Putting the gut-wrenching loss, and the nature of it, aside, Kennewell said his players were fully aware the bigger picture showed nothing but positives.
This year’s third placing was the fourth time in the last five years Ex-Services had finished in the top four overall - seventh in 2014, third in 2013 and fourth in 2012 and 2011 - but Kennewell said with an uberly-talented squad a grand final appearance, at the very least, could be just around the corner.
“Realistically, even next year we could go one further with the side we have, if they can take the kind of hockey we played in the finals this year into the start of next season,” he said.
Kennewell nominated 2015 recruits Mel Woods and Chloe Barrett’s respective performances as highlights in their first season with the club.
“Mel Woods performed really well all year, she was really impressive coming across this season,” Kennewell said.
“Chloe Barrett was a standout too, she performed week-in-week-out for us. Haley Butcherine was another one, she was really good, and Ebony Press really came of age this year, she was outstanding every week.
“But in saying that, everyone played really well and had a really good season in general.”