ORANGE High School’s 2014 Astley Cup dream is still very much alive after a dominant day one performance on Thursday.
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Hosting Bathurst High, Orange won three of four events to boast a 100-point leading heading into Friday’s second and final day of play.
Early in the day Orange High dominated the tennis, winning 11 sets to five, taking a 69-31 points split before thumping Bathurst 8-1 in the hockey clash.
Orange High earned a huge 89-11 split from the clash to take a 116-point overall lead in the afternoon’s sports.
Bathurst’s boys’ football team tried to spark a resurgence, taking a 2-nil victory and 75-25 overall split, reducing Orange High’s lead to 66 in the process.
“We had some great performances early in the day,” Orange High Astley Cup coordinator Tegan Dray said.
“The tennis players got us off to a great start, and the hockey girls were fantastic.”
In the final match-up of the day, with the OHS Barmy Army cheering them on, Orange High’s girls’ football team scored a potentially cup-winning 2-1 upset over their heavily favoured opponents.
The hosts took a 67-33 overall split, boosting their lead to triple figures.
“It was a huge upset, the girls’ [football] team were outstanding,” Dray said.
“That win has given us a good buffer and put us in a strong position leading into [today]. We are confident I think, but some of [today’s] events are going to be pretty tough to pick.”
Orange High is expected to score a win in netball this morning, while the hosts will be confident heading into basketball having earned a place in the NSW Combined High Schools open boys’ basketball knockout top 16 earlier in the year.
Dray said the athletics could go either way, with overall results potentially hinging on this afternoon’s final event - rugby league.
“We’re expecting the boys to be at least competitive in the rugby league,” she said.
“We’re hoping to wrap it up earlier than that obviously, to avoid any unnecessary pressure, but it’s really quite hard to tell what’s going to happen.”
Tip-off in the basketball clash is at 9.15am, at Orange PCYC, which will also host netball at 10.45am.
Athletics begins back at Orange High at 12.15pm, while rugby league kicks off at 2.30pm, also at the school.