Dubbo 18s have staked their claim as the region's best, coming away victorious from the Western Conference Carnival in Orange at the weekend.
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The Dubbo women had wins over Orange and Parkes, and drew against Bathurst, to claim the title of Western Conference champions, despite being the underdogs and playing the entire day without substitutes.
The carnival was played at Orange on Sunday, March 22, and saw teams from across the region come together for Dubbo 18s started out with a game against Parkes, who had the Dubbo girls scrambling for the first 10 minutes before they found their feet in attack.
The defensive line of Lilli Campbell in goals, Kendall McDonagh and Maddi Cafe proved solid and held Parkes out, before Phoebe Bloink-Hollier, Bree Bloink-Hollier and Zoe Warwick combined in attack to put the first goal away.
Phoebe Bloink-Hollier's goal was followed closely by a second from Emma Corcoran, and Dubbo wrapped up the game as 2-0 victors.
The second match-up against Orange got off to a much cleaner start for the Dubbo girls, who dominated from the outset.
A strong midfield kept the Orange defenders on their toes, and it wasn't long before Courtney Hogan capitalised on a short corner to put girls a goal up.
The second goal came once again from the stick of Phoebe Bloink-Hollier, but the Orange defence pulled together to keep Dubbo out for the remainder of the game, for a final score of 2-0.
The third game saw Dubbo come up against their strongest competition in Bathurst, and the girls also had the unfamiliar sand-based turf working against them.
Great scrambling defence and a swift counter-attack saw a penalty corner awarded to Dubbo, and Phoebe Bloink-Hollier got her third goal of the tournament to put Dubbo ahead.
But Bathurst rallied and were able to grab a goal to level the scores. It was the only goal Campbell conceded all tournament.
Bathurst dominated for the rest of the game but Dubbo's defence held strong to keep them out, and the game ended a 1-all draw.
The win was an exceptional achievement, especially considering that the Dubbo side was without subs, and also managed dominant performances against two teams that compete two grades above Dubbo in the State Hockey Championships (Bathurst and Orange are in Division 1 while Dubbo is in Division 3).
Dubbo Hockey Association and the players wanted to thank Lisa Hogan for her amazing work as team manager to organize the day.
They also wished to thank the parents and umpire Kyle McKenzie.
Without these people, the girls wouldn't have been able to pull off their amazing achievement.
