It’s an oldie but a goodie, and Bathurst High School sports organiser Josh Lawler knows the 2017 Astley Cup isn’t over until the fat lady sings.
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Bathurst sits in the box seat to claim this year’s inter-school cup, the 94th edition of the Astley prize, having won its opening tie against Orange High School a fortnight ago.
A win over Dubbo by any margin will be enough to lift the cup.
Dubbo on the other hand will need a minor miracle to end a half-decade drought and claim the major prize, a nigh-impossible 575 to 225 win over Bathurst the equation facing this week’s hosts.
But a Dubbo win smaller than that 350 point margin will result in defending champions Orange claiming back-to-back wins. But Lawler isn’t one to deal in hypotheticals.
“Any conjecture over where we’re going to be on day one is futile. It’s never over until it’s over,” Lawler said.
“I think it’s going to be a really close and exciting couple of days. If you look at how the Orange and Dubbo tie played out I’m expecting this one to be really close.”
Dubbo went down 488-312 to Orange in their meeting last week. “It honestly could come down to both schools winning four sports each,” he added.
On day one, tennis, netball, basketball and athletics will take place, sports Bathurst will be looking to bounce back in after a horrid day against OHS in the last tie.