THE fight for a top four finish in women's Central West Premier League Hockey just got spicier thanks to Bathurst City's 1-0 win over Orange CYMS during the competition's Indigenous round in Lithgow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A second quarter penalty corner goal to Kelly Baker would be all that separated the two sides in a game where both defences limited opportunities in open play.
With just five rounds to go in the regular season the result brings City level with both Orange clubs - CYMS and United - on 16 points, while second-placed Parkes sit just ahead on 18 points.
Since their narrow 3-2 loss to Parkes at the start of June Bathurst City have since gone on to win their last three games.
Meanwhile, a way into the top four is looking more unlikely for the other Bathurst sides in the competition, St Pat's and Souths, after they each went down on Saturday.
Souths threatened to pull off the upset of the season when they found themselves up 2-1 early in the second quarter against Lithgow Panthers but it wasn't to be, as the competition leaders came away 5-2 winners at home.
Pat's managed to draw level with their opponents Orange United before half-time but the Bathurst side would go down 3-1 after a tough second half.
Of the three teams locked on 16 points CYMS (three points on goal difference) have a slight edge over United (minus two) and City (minus three).
Souths (four points) and Pat's (two) will now have to win all games from this stage while hoping other results go their way.
City coach Mel Bestwick said Saturday's game was one that required some quick thinking
"We're really pleased with the win and getting a win over CYMS is a big boost for our confidence," she said.
"It was a difficult game for both sides to get into from the start, and both sides frustrated one another quite a bit in the opening stance. CYMS hold their position well so we had to make some changes on the run, which our girls adapted well to.
"We were lucky enough to hold them out with some solid defence."
- READ MORE: Bathurst City claims back-to-back victories over their cross city rivals in Central West Premier League Hockey
- READ ALSO: St Pat's overcome Lithgow Storm 3-2 in top of the table men's Central West Premier League
- READ ALSO: St Pat's put six goals past a determined 10-man Wanderers side in Central West Premier League Hockey
Bestwick said her side looked a little more assured of things after finding their goal.
"It was quite even over the third and fourth quarter," she said.
"I felt that over the first quarter we did a lot of work to try and combat them, which we did well, and then we made some tweaks at quarter-time and half-time that helped us take more control later in the game.
"It was great to see that we were executing the things that we'd been working on at training.
"I thought Erin Cobcroft was outstanding for us in defence. She made a number of tackles where we would have found ourselves in trouble if she hadn't made those."
Neither men's match took place on the weekend due to forfeits.
St Pat's and Lithgow Storm each recorded 3-0 wins by default after their opponents - Parkes United and Orange Wanderers respectively - withdrew from Saturday's round.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
