CATHERINE McAuley Catholic Primary School’s Netball NSW Schools Cup campaign came to an end in Tuesday’s West/Central West Regional Final day at Orange PCYC, with the Orange side eventually finishing third.

Catherine McAuley, the 2014 regional champions, clashed with schools from as far away as Walgett yesterday, going through the pool stage undefeated before coming undone in the semi-final.

“They finished third but they played some really good netball all day,” Netball NSW west/central west regional coordinator Mardi Aplin said.

“They were quite a small side in stature though, and some of the other sides were quite tall so they struggled a bit against those teams. They did really well all day though.”

Catherine McAuley came up against a strong side in The Cathedral School Bathurst in the semi-final, going down 20-5 in a one-sided affair. 

The Orange team did manage to secure a win over Macquarie Anglican Grammar Dubbo in the third place play-off to win bronze, and prior to that went through the pool stage without dropping a game.

Catherine McAuley defeated Macquarie Anglican in the pool stage as well, along with St Joseph’s Walgett, Parkes Public and St Mary’s Warren.

The Cathedral School was beaten in the final by champions St Raphael’s Cowra, which was a reversed result from the two sides’ meeting in their group stage.

St Raphael’s will head to the Netball NSW Schools Cup State Final to be played at Netball Central, at Sydney Olympic Park, in September as a result of the win.

“Fingers crossed they do well,” Aplin said.

“They look like a pretty good little side, and they have plenty of time to train between now and then.

“I think they should do pretty well.”