Orange CYMS truly stamped their authority on this year's women's Premier League Hockey title race on Saturday afternoon, going "to another level" in their 4-nil hammering of reigning premiers Bathurst St Pat's, one that keeps them undefeated through three games.
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Playing at their home of Orange Hockey Centre CYMS controlled the clash from go to woah, coach Pete Shea explained, dominating possession and territory to create a plethora of chances and restrict the Saints to just a handful.
As the scoreline shows the green and golds buried four of those chances through Pip Mannix, Jade Georgiou, Georgie Watson and Jemma Luelf while once again keeping a rival scoreless, incredibly they're yet to concede a goal in 2019.
"It was incredible in the way we played, we really went to a new level," Shea enthused.
WATCH: Pip Mannix deflects a short corner into the back of the net to extend CYMS' lead
"We wanted to play an up-tempo game and we did. In all sports at times you see teams lift the tempo in a game and the other side just can't really compete and I think that's sort of what happened on Saturday.
"St Pat's had, maybe, half a dozen short corners and only a couple of shots on goal and we obviously managed to put a few in at the other end, we controlled the ball for as long as I've seen any team in a game at this level for some time.
"It was just a really, really good performance."
Shea went on to laud the efforts of Mannix and Libby Smith through the midfield and although he said his entire side impressed, those two were "just exceptional".
We controlled the ball for as long as I've seen any team ... for some time.
- CYMS coach Pete Shea
"They were creating and instigating some really great play and they really controlled things we wanted to lift that tempo. They were very impressive and then some of younger forwards did some really great things as well," Shea said.
Shea, never one to rest on his laurels, followed his praise by challenging his troops to work even harder to maintain their form, the green and golds are now in share for the competition lead with the also-undefeated Lithgow Panthers.
Panthers take top spot on goal difference and the focus has turned to how explosive the two front-running sides' round seven clash could be, assuming they continue their winning runs over the next month.
"The challenge now is staying at that level," Shea fired.
"I said to the girls afterwards they have made it tough for themselves in a way with a performance like that because they've set a new standard for themselves in the way they play but we couldn't have asked for a better start to the season."
- ORANGE CYMS 4 (Georgie Watson, Pip Mannix, Jade Georgiou, Jemma Luelf) def BATHURST ST PAT'S 0
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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.
