HOCKEY
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IT’S an improvement on the eight-goal hiding the last time they met St Pat’s, but Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Bathurst juggernaut has left Orange Wanderers coach Pete Shea a touch disappointed.
Played at the Orange Hockey Complex on Saturday, Shea’s men’s Premier League Hockey outfit matched it with the competition’s best side, trailing by just the one goal at the half-time break.
But half-time was the worst thing that could have happened to Wanderers.
The undefeated St Pat’s came out firing in the second stanza, with Darcy Davis’ first half goal following briskly by winners off the sticks of Josh Toole, Riley Hanrahan and then Jaden Ekert - three goals in the space of 12 minutes that effectively wiped Wanderers out of the contest.
Connor Morris scored the host’s only winner, but it was just a consolation goal.
“It was very disappointing today,” Shea said.
“We played very well, and we were only down 1-0 at half-time, but the first 15 minutes of the second half we conceded three goals, and that took us out of the game.
“We probably lacked a bit of execution, and didn’t really do any of the things we’ve been working on well. There’s just little errors letting us down.”
Shea though, said the fact Wanderers were able to compete throughout that first period - minus Nick Sharp, Matt Johnson, Todd Freedman and Daryl Kennewell - is somewhat of a positive, one he was hoping would shoot the Orange club into the finals.
“We’ve shown we’re capable of competing for long periods of the game with clearly the best team in the competition,” Shea said.
“We just need to back that up now week in, week out and hopefully we can grab one of those spots in the semis. It starts next week against Dubbo.”
Luke Skelton, Zac Royle and Hayden Dillon were Wanderers’ best in a tough loss.
BATHURST ST PAT’S 4 (Jaden Ekert, Riley Hanrahan, Darcy Davis, Josh Toole) def ORANGE WANDERERS 1 (Connor Morris).