A DOUBLE to Orange Ex-Services forward Kate Butcherine has helped the blue and golds secure a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Blue Jays in Dubbo on Saturday.

Butcherine’s goals came either side of half-time, the second bagged just with just five minutes remaining to break the 1-all stalemate and earn Servies their seventh win of the 2015 women’s Premier League Hockey season, a result that sees them maintain fourth position on the ladder.

“She’s a bit of a Johnny on the spot for us,” Ex-Services co-coach Mitch Kennewell said of his gun striker.

“She’s fast, she runs all day and doesn’t hesitate, which is great. If it’s there to be hit, she’ll have a go at it.”

Butcherine’s first half goal was a neat deflection, executed perfectly mid-way through the opening period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

It was exactly what Ex-Services needed after a slow start, but despite earning a number of opportunities to further add to their advantage the blue and golds narrowly missed several goal-scoring chances before half-time.

And, as it turns out, the break was exactly what Dubbo needed.

The Blue Jays fired to begin the second half, and when Alisa Shaw converted a short corner chance into Dubbo’s first goal, the scores levelled at 1-all.

Both teams then endured some heart-breaking chances to go ahead - the Servies defence of Ellen Van Hoek, Tiff Atkinson and Ebony Press particularly outstanding - and it wasn’t until Butcherine deftly deflected her second past Dubbo stopper Michelle Courtney that the deadlock was broken.

“They’re starting to come together as a group, which is nice,” Kennewell added.

“There’s a couple of the girls really taking charge of their positions on the field, Ellen Van Hoek had a blinder for us in defence. She’s starting to get comfortable back there now as one of the new girls and she’s playing great hockey.

“We started okay, but it probably took us a while to get going. We managed to jag one and that got us going a bit there towards the end of the first half.

“Our second half we picked it up a bit. But in the end we got lucky I suppose. 

“There were a few chances we should have taken but we just didn’t.”

ORANGE EX-SERVICES 2 (Kate Butcherine 2) def DUBBO BLUE JAYS 1 (Alisa Shaw).