Winning four of their five matches to place second in Pool B the NSW Country side, of which Jess was a part of, only lost their game against Queensland one nil in what Jess described as a fast paced game.

“The Qeensland game was the best game we played,” Jess said.

“We had a good chance going into the game but unfortunately they were able to get a good goal in during the second half.

“We battled it out for some time and it was a very fast game and once they scored they played some very smart football keeping the ball from our goal area.”

Jess and her teammates also took on Victoria Country, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT during the three days of competition.

“We won our first game 5-1 and our second 3 nil,” Jess said.

“We then went on to win 3 nil in our game against Tasmania, which led us into the Queensland game before our last match against Pool A team ACT, which we beat 2 nil.”

Taking out the overall championships from Pool A was the NSW Metro side, who Jess and her team mates had taken on in a training match a few weeks earlier.

“I think if we were in Pool A we would have had a good chance of wining the championships,” Jess said.

“We drew in our practice game against NSW Metro, which shows we could have stuck it to the teams in Pool A.”

With the intensive training Jess had to undergo and facing opponents from across Australia Jess said the experience has helped her become a better player and grow as a person.

“I have more confidence on the field now and can play a few other positions,” she said.

“I still love playing in the attacking positions but I now know I’m more versatile on the field and can play in defence as well.”

Prior to last week’s championships Jess and her fellow NSW Country team mates spent a week at an intensive training camp at the Narrabeen Sports and Recreation Centre, where they had access to some of the most modern training and testing equipment available.