Heading into the final month of the women's Premier League Hockey regular season Orange CYMS are back in the box seat to claim this year's minor premiership, the green and golds moving clear on top of the table with a critical win over Bathurst St Pat's on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The two sides were in a share for top spot heading into the round 10 top-of-the-table clash, which was billed as an absolute blockbuster and didn't disappoint in the slightest.
In the end the Orange side, despite being on the road, just proved too classy for the reigning premiers, thanks largely to another outstanding effort from former Hockeyroo Jade Georgiou, who scored a brace in the 3-1 win and continued the form which has many predicting she's the front-runner for the 2019 player-of-the-year award.
Georgie Watson also found the back of the net for CYMS while Sarah Watterson made her presence felt for the Saints, scoring the Bathurst side's lone goal.
While CYMS move two points clear on top of the table St Pat's drop to third, they're now two points behind Lithgow Panthers, who leapfrogged the reigning champions with a 4-2 victory over Bathurst Souths on the weekend.
Bathurst City is a further 10 points back in fourth and as such the battle for the minor premiership is now a race between the top three, with none enjoying a particularly easy run home and CYMS' final round clash with Panthers could be the decider.
St Pat's coach Jaden Ekert lauded the performance of CYMS goalkeeper Kimberley Kiel after the clash, but lamented missed opportunities too.
"We were probably in control of the game for about 75 per cent of the time," he said.
"It just didn't fall our way. It was one of those games where we normally would have walked off with the win and I think they knew that."
"We controlled it and we were technically ahead in the game with how much possession we had.
"We had 13 short corners to two and their keeper made nine saves off those short corners."
- ORANGE CYMS 3 (Jade Georgiou 2, Georgie Watson) def BATHURST ST PAT'S 1 (Sarah Watterson)
WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...
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.
