The Parkes Women's Masters Hockey Team were named 2024 Western Masters League champions after defeating Bathurst 2-1 in the grand final held in Parkes on Sunday.
The match was a very close affair with little separating the two sides all year in round matches.
Parkes gained an early 1-0 lead in the opening minutes after smart play entering the circle resulted in Tracey Harrison pouncing on a loose ball and knocking it into the back of the net.
Towards the end of the first quarter of the match, Parkes earned a penalty corner which Janelle Thompson converted with a strong straight shot on goal to give Parkes a 2-0 lead.
Bathurst returned to the field strongly in the second quarter and gave the Parkes defence plenty of work with goalkeeper Lee Hodge and defenders Annie Lydford Tracie Sams and Jane Grosvenor called upon to make some miracle saves to deny Bathurst these opportunities.
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Parkes began to control the match well in the third quarter with excellent possession and calm play and were unlucky not to convert some of these chances.
In the final quarter, Bathurst created a strong attacking opportunity with Tracey Chenhall firing the ball into the back of the net after the Parkes defence had made some strong initial saves.
Parkes played smart hockey in the final minutes of the match to control the play and claim the victory.
Best and Fairest for Parkes were Louise Witherow, Annie Lydford, Denise Gersbach and Jane Grosvenor.
Best and Fairest for Bathurst were Tracey Chenhall, Sandra Black, Kristy Hewitt and Maureen Massey.
Player of the Match awards were presented to Louise WItherow and Tracey Chenhall.
Parkes players featured in season Best and Fairest and Leading Goalscorer results with Casey Miles and Denise Gersbach being named runners up in Best and Fairest and Janelle Thompson and Casey Miles being named runners up in Leading Goalscorer.
Parkes players Maureen Massey (over 70s), Denise Gersbach (over 50s), Mandy Westcott (over 55s) and Lee Hodge (55s Assistant Coach) now finish their preparations for the Masters World Cup in Auckland in three weeks time where they will be representing Australia. Casey Miles (over 35s Australia A) is currently competing in the Over 35s World Cup in Cape Town.
