ORANGE Wanderers have shot into third on the men's Premier League Hockey table after a gritty 3-2 victory over Lithgow Zig Zag at Orange Hockey Complex on Saturday, continuing their strong opening to 2016 - their best start to a season in the club's history.

Michael Dillon, Nick Sharp and Luke Skelton potted goals in Saturday's win, nullifying Eli Shirt's brace and securing the one-goal victory, which is Wanderers' fourth from their last five starts.

Wanderers shot-stopped Daryl Kennewell said the win stemmed from his side’s desire to do more than just compete with the competition’s best sides this winter.

“We really wanted to start strong and being at home that’s pretty important,” Kennewell said.

“We did that and got out to an early lead and we managed to fight hard there at the end ... Zig Zag had a lot of shots in the final 10 minutes and we kept them out, which was great.”

Wanderers took a 2-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes with Dillon and Sharp both finding the back of the net, but one of those goals was cancelled out minutes later when Shirt scored for Lithgow.

The two sides traded opportunities but neither could capitalise any further in the first period, with the hosts going into the break leading 2-1.

Skelton pushed Wanderers' lead out to 3-1, 17 minutes into the second half, but Shirt kept 'Ziggies in touch with his second six minutes later.

The visitors pressed forward hard in the final 10 minutes in search of an equaliser, but Wanderers' defence held in a particularly impressive period of play from the Orange side.

The evergreen Darryn Marjoram was among Wanderers' best, with Kennewell and Gentles also continuing their purple patch individually, while Shirt, Ben Redding and Brandon Lloyd were Zig Zag's strongest.

Kennewell added translating his side’s recent strong form into wins against top sides like Lithgow Panthers and Bathurst St Pat’s comes down to one thing - consistency.

“We’ll be able to get it too if we keep getting to training and working on the drills we’ve been doing,” he said.

“I thought Keiran Gentles had his best game of the year for us on Saturday, and Micky Dillon and Nic Sharp were great as well ... they’re my picks.”

ORANGE WANDERERS 3 (Michael Dillon, Nick Sharp, Luke Skelton) def LITHGOW ZIG ZAG 2 (Eli Shirt 2