Bathurst players celebrate NSW PSSA Girls Hockey Championship win with Polding

The trio and their Polding team shared the title with South Coast after the two sides finished 1-all at the full-time whistle of a thrilling grand final, with no extra-time being played.

The efforts of Cathedral School's Howard and Crawford saw them named in the NSW representative squad

Bathurst junior girls hockey was represented strongly in the semi-final between Polding and Western, where nine players from the association were in action.

The Western side featured Bathurst's Ruby Cole, Charlotte Falconer, Georgie Weal, Amelia Milton, Georgie Webb and Lucy Hanman.

Polding scraped into the final on the back of a 1-0 win.

Bathurst Public School's Cole was selected to the NSW team alongside Howard and Crawford, while Western teammate Abby Armstrong (Cumnock) also made the side.

Ekert's mother, Kristy, said the final was a tense conclusion to a great tournament for Bathurst juniors.

"Evie thought she'd scored a goal but it was called as coming off the back of the stick, which was a bit heartbreaking for her, but that's part of the game. That would have made it 2-1 inside the last five minutes," she said.

"It was phenomenal to see so many kids there from Bathurst, and it's so helpful for them all when they're over there alongside a familiar face. They were quite settled and when you can play alongside your regular teammates that helps so much.

"For Evie, she's a younger age player, and at this competition you could see so much growth in her hockey and herself. A lot of them had to play in different positions as well, which is great for them.

"It's always a great experience when you have to step outside of your comfort zone."

Polding got off to a super start at the championships by piling on 27 unanswered goals over three victories.

They got their first big test of the tournament the following day against CIS, where they drew nil-all, then followed that up with a strong 5-0 win over North West.

After the success against Western it wasn't until the final where Polding conceded their one and only goal of the tournament.

Western enjoyed a great run through to the semi-finals as well, starting their competition with a pair of 4-1 wins.

After a hard fought 2-1 win over North Coast and a 1-all draw with South Coast the team locked up their semi-final spot with a big 9-0 win against Sydney East.

Ekert said the semi-final contest, featuring all eight Bathurst players, was a treat to watch.

"It was a very close game. In the first half Western were all over Polding but we eventually scored off a short corner," she said.

"It stayed quite even right to the end. It was great to see Western go through to that point undefeated as well."

Bathurst also had Max Benning in action at the boys' edition of the NSW PSSA Championships, bringing the city's representation up to nine.

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