ALTONA’S state league 2 women’s hockey side suffered its first loss of the season in the semi-final clash against Albury Wodonga on Sunday.

The 2-3 result puts Albury straight into the grand final, while Altona will have to play Monash in the preliminary final this Sunday. Assistant Coach Marc Richardson was disappointed after the match.

“While we achieved our goal of returning to state league one by winning the minor premiership, our secondary goal of winning the major premiership just became a lot harder,” he said.

“They wanted it more, and we looked awful today. Let’s hope we see an Altona side that was undefeated throughout the entire season next week in the prelim.”

Altona’s star forwards Tegan Purser and Steph Sarantis were tagged out of the game, meaning Altona’s forays forward were ineffectual throughout the first half.

Taia Leenstra and Emma Aitken, two young midfielders for Altona, battled hard, but couldn’t generate enough forward pressure to match Albury’s counter-attack. The match was characterised early by errors, but Albury did well on the counter-attack. Two Altona errors in defence resulted in Albury goals, and the second-placed side looked to be heading towards the grand final.

Veteran striker Samantha Winch took the field and immediately generated some trouble for the Albury defence. She won a penalty stroke, which young midfielder Bronte Kerley converted in a clinical fashion to bridge the gap.

Another defensive error from Altona resulted in an Albury goal, which put the result beyond doubt. While Altona scored another penalty stroke, the side was never really in the contest.

Altona’s men’s pennant A side pulled off a 4-3 win against Camberwell to advance to the preliminary final against Greensborough this Saturday.

With the score locked at 3-3 and heading to extra time, striker Lachie Cameron slotted an unbelievable goal with about 10 minutes to play. The final minutes of the match were played at a frenetic intensity, but Altona hung on to score a famous victory.