ORANGE’S under-15 boys’ hockey team goes into today’s division two NSW championships full of confidence.
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The boys won the Western Conference last weekend and are hoping to continue their momentum in Grafton starting today.
Orange coach Mark Pengilly is looking forward to seeing his young side in action at the three-day state championships.
“We’re quietly confident we should do well,” Pengilly said.
“We won Western Conference last weekend, so we’re coming up here with confidence. Hopefully the boys play good hockey.”
The Orange boys have an early start to their campaign when they take on Newcastle (2) at 8am today.
This will be followed by their clash with Sydney East (2) at 1pm.
Tomorrow they take on North West Sydney (2) at noon and then Parkes at 4pm.
Pengilly said he didn’t know anything about the Newcastle and Sydney teams but this didn’t worry him.
“If the boys play to their potential, they’ll stick it to them,” he said.
“We’re equally good up front, through the midfield and then at the back. Tom Powe will hold things up at the back and guide everyone. Bailey Ferguson and Connor Morris are in the midfield, which will give us a lot of run through there.
“Up front we’ve got guys like Luke Rosewarn, Sam McDonald and Kaleb Cook who will put pressure on the other backs.”
The Orange team also benefits from the experience gained by Hugh Farley, Powe and Morris as part of Orange’s under-18 side at this month’s NSW championships.
“So hopefully they bring that experience back with them,” Pengilly said.
The Orange side will be confident against Parkes after beating them 2-0 in their Western Conference clash.
Orange will be out to finish in the top two in their pool to qualify for Sunday’s semi-finals, where they will square off with the top two from pool B, which includes Grafton (1), Goulburn and District, Nepean, Metro South West (2) and Southern Highlands.
Semi-finals, finals and positional play-offs will be held on Sunday.