Orange Netball Association's dream of claiming the three Netball NSW Bing Lee West-Central West Regional League titles on offer to it remains very much alive following Sunday's opening rounds at Sir Neville Howse Stadium.
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Fielding sides in three of the four competitions, Orange's four outfits combined to win eight of their 11 encounters to all remain firmly in the frame to feature in their respective finals and then, potentially, go and claim a swag of silverware.
The Thunder's division one title defence is well and truly on track after going undefeated through the opening three games, a feat Orange's under-15 replicated in division three.
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The Lightning, Orange's other top flight outfit, sits third after winning one of three games while the division four squad picked up one win and suffered a loss on Sunday too to sit second.
After coach Linda Macleod admitted she didn't really know what to expect heading into last weekend's opening rounds the Thunder produced as dominant a display as they could've hoped.
First they knocked off Dubbo 65-40 and then picked up a 51-35 victory in an all-Orange derby against their Lightning counterparts, before taking down Bathurst 63-46 to round out a perfect day's work.
Outside their loss to the Thunder the Lightning also suffered a defeat at Dubbo's hands, losing out 39-38 in an absolute thriller in their last game of the afternoon.
Prior to both of those losses though, they downed Bathurst 42-38 in their opening fixture, with all three of their performances proving they have the ability to not just match it with their arguably more-experienced rivals, but potentially take them all down too.
In the day's other top flight clash Bathurst defeated Dubbo by six goals, winning 56-50, the result another nod towards how closely-contested the 2019 edition of the tournament will be.
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With the Thunder clear on top, the Lightning, Bathurst and Dubbo are all deadlocked points-wise with one victory and two defeats.
Orange's under 15s knocked off Mudgee (62-46), Gilgandra (84-22) and Lithgow (75-19) in division three, proving they're the competition favourites through the first round.
In division four Orange defeated Gilgandra (38-30) before being beaten by Mudgee (56-29).
In division two, the only league where Orange isn't fielding a side, Bathurst and Blayney dominated, both sides picking up back-to-back wins to remain undefeated through the opening rounds.
The Regional Leagues' second preliminary round is on Sunday, March 24.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
