The open women's side from Orange came into the weekend's tournament with the goal of finishing in the top three. But losses to Liverpool City and Newcastle dented those hopes early on.

"We talked about having a tough day at the office on day one and we just went back to identifying the areas of our game plan that we felt we needed to address going forward," coach McCarthy said.

"We did have to re-evaluate and think about where we went wrong and what we needed to address."

And what a bounce back it was. Over the next two-and-a-half days of action, Orange rattled off 16 straight victories to finish tied second on points, and third overall due to an inferior goal difference.

"The girls were amazing, they truly were. We stuck to our game plan and as you can see from our results, we had some really close games where we only came away with the win by one or two points," McCarthy added.

"They listened to the feedback and came together as a team and really work hard to gain that top three placing."

The only two teams ahead of them by tournament's end? Newcastle (second) and the undefeated Liverpool who were crowned champions.

"It was a bit tough meeting those top two teams on day one and Liverpool were a quality side and deserved to win," McCarthy added.

"But I believe that if we'd met Newcastle on day two when we had clicked a bit better and gelled a bit better, then we could have taken them."

For three months the side trained together in the leadup to the competition and this time around had a slightly different focus.

"We incorporated some strength and conditioning sessions to really get prepared for this," the coach said.

"We reflected on our performance from last year and even though we came in the top five, we felt if we were a bit physically fitter and stronger, then we could have done better.

"It's a lot of wear and tear on the bodies, so we thought if we could be in prime condition fitness-wise, we could last the three days."

Bringing together players from different teams for any representative tournament is never easy.

But McCarthy credited her side for the dedication they showed which helped them reach their top three goal.

"The side was made up of three club teams, so even though they either play with or against each other, you still have to bring players together to play as one," she said.

"We did a lot of court work and a lot of different combinations, so that over the three days, I was able to put on different combinations that clicked instantly. Huge credit to those players to adjust to any changes that I might have put together."

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