ORANGE Wanderers was left to rue missed opportunities in its men’s Premier League Hockey loss to Parkes United on Saturday.
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Wanderers lost out 4-3 to Parkes, in Parkes, and coach Beth Shea said her side’s lack of ball retention and execution was to blame.
“We just gave up possession and turned the ball over way too much,” she said.
“It’s tough to win when you give the opposition at least 10 per cent of your own passes, uncontested.”
Despite a start Shea described as “terrible”, Wanderers hit the lead when Keegan Brooke bagged his first, before Jacob Townsend equalised to head into the half-time break at 1-all.
Mitch Townsend gave the hosts the lead early in the second half, before Jacob Townsend grabbed his second to extend Parkes’ lead to two.
Wanderers’ mistakes continued to come back to bite them as Hamish Orr scored Parkes’ fourth, seemingly putting the result to bed.
However, Brooke bagged his second and Luke Skelton netted a goal of his own to give the visitors some hope at 4-3, but the scores remained unchanged.
“We finished well again, but we aren’t going to win playing catch up hockey,” Shea said.
“The Parkes guys would probably say they deserved to win, but I think a draw might have been a better reflection of the game.
“In saying that we gifted them clean ball in our own half, which you just can’t do. We had chances toward the end as well which we didn’t take.
“We had a couple of very experienced players missing, and it was noticeable.
“The young players in their place did a good job, but experience counts for a lot and I think we lacked a little bit.”
“We have to look at the positives because we need to continue doing them well, and learn from our mistakes.”
PARKES UNITED 4 (Jacob Townsend 2, Mitch Townsend, Hamish Orr) def ORANGE WANDERERS 3 (Keegan Brooke 2, Luke Skelton).