Chasing the under-16 girls’ Toohey Cup, Orange went undefeated through the first three rounds of the competition on Friday afternoon.

One of the few Orange sides that didn’t still have a game to play on Friday at time of print, the under-16 Thunder girls kicked off their campaign with back-to-back wins following a round one bye.

The Thunder edged past Carlingford (2-1) before also trumping Cronulla (5-4) in a thriller, to announce themselves as genuine contenders.

Orange’s next best side was its under-10 girls’ unit, competing for the Tirado Cup.

In that age group the Thunder drew 3-3 in its opening game against Hills Hornets, before defeating Wests Magpies. Orange romped home 8-2 in that fixture.

While Orange’s other sides haven’t fared as well, they have plenty of time to work themselves back into strong positions.

Orange drew 1-1 with Taree in the under-18 boys’ competition, while their female counterparts had suffered two losses a draw – with Hornsby (5-5) and to Ballina (6-0) and Wallsend (7-1), respectively.

The Thunder’s under-16 boys’ side drew 5-5 in their opening game of the tournament, with Armidale, while the under-14 boys’ kicked off with a bye before losing out 3-2 to Easts Roosters in a tight affair.

In the under-14 girls’ Taylor Cup competition, Orange accounted for Peninsula Piranhas 4-2 in Friday morning’s opening fixture, but couldn’t make it two in a row, going down 3-1 to the Nelson Bay Neptunes in round two.

Orange’s under-12 boys’ side started with a 5-5 draw with Camden Haven Eagles, then got thumped 11-0 by a strong Manly side. They bounced back, thrashing Armidale 7-0.

Their female counterparts started in perfect fashion, beating Newcastle City 4-0 but lost to Maitland (2-0) and Northern Beaches (7-0) in rounds two and three respectively.

Orange’s under-10 boys’ team lost 7-2 Penrith and 8-3 to St George.