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THE Bendigo Amateur Soccer League's representative girls teams shone at the weekend's Victoria Country Championships on the Epsom-Huntly Reserve pitches.
It was the third time in four years the titles had been played on Bendigo's turf.
The championship hosts fielded teams in the under-12, under-14 and under-16 competitions.
Players from Albury-Wodonga, Ballarat, Geelong, Gippsland and Shepparton took to the pitches across the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend.
Bendigo's under-16 team, coached by Tony Trimboli, played excellent team soccer all weekend.
Several players from Bendigo's women's championship lined up at these titles.
Albury-Wodonga scored a 2-1 victory in the under-16s grand final.
The Jo Hill-coached under-14 team from Bendigo had to play an additional qualifying match before the final after the second and third placed teams finished on equal points and goal difference after the round robin matches.
The Bendigo team played its best match of the weekend to defeat Gippsland 1-0 in the qualifier.
The extra match affected Bendigo as a skilful Albury-Wodonga team scored a 7-1 victory in the grand final.
For many in BASL's under-12 team the competition was their first experience at playing on a full size pitch and at representative level.
The girls were well coached by Louise McColl and Holly Hays and improved as the weekend progressed.
A highlight was their final match in which Shepparton won a great contest, 1-0.
With the majority of Bendigo's team eligible for the under-12 team again in 2015 and 2016 the girls benefited greatly from the experience.
Albury-Wodonga scored a 2-0 victory against Ballarat in the under-12 grand final.
Bendigo Amateur Soccer League operations manager Brock Rogers said to have two of three teams qualify for the grand final was a great achievement by all players, coaches, team managers and parents.
Bendigo's results at the Victoria Country girls soccer championships played at Epsom-Huntly Reserve:
Under-12: lt Geelong 6-0, lt Gippsland 2-0, lt Ballarat 3-0, lt Albury-Wodonga 6-0, lt Shepparton 1-0.
Under-14: d Geelong 3-1, lt Gippsland 2-1, d Albury-Wodonga 4-1, d Shepparton 2-1. Final qualifier: d Gippsland 1-. Grand final: lt Albury-Wodonga 7-1.
Under-16: d Geelong 1-0, d Gippsland 3-0, d Ballarat 6-0, lt Albury-Wodonga 4-1, d Shepparton 4-1. Grand final: Albury-Wodonga d Bendigo 2-1.