ASTLEY CUP
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WHEN students from the three competing schools line up for any match in the coveted Astley Cup, there is pressure on to perform.
Pressure to not lose, pressure to not get thrashed on the scoreboard and pressure to make sure that you keep your school close enough that the other teams can make up the difference.
With that in mind, it is doubtful that any of Bathurst High School’s sides are going to be under pressure as much as their girls hockey outfit when they face Orange High on the first full day of their Astley Cup tie tomorrow.
In the opening showdown of the 2013 competition held last week, Orange dominated Dubbo Senior College. Nowhere was that more evident than in the hockey where Dubbo were crushed 20-0.
That gave Orange a 91-9 split of the cup points on offer and Bathurst will be desperate to avoid a similar fate at the Cooke Hockey Complex tomorrow.
“We always knew Orange would be strong and in the past few years they have had a very good attacking side and I have watched Dubbo play too and they are actually a reasonable team,” Bathurst High hockey coach Jacqui Hood said.
“But that was a lot larger score than what I would have predicted. Still, we’re a different side and we’re aiming at sticking to our own game plan and not getting too carried away with what Orange did last week.”
Two of the key figures for Bathurst will be goalkeeper McKenzee Newton and utility Emma Siejka.
Newton is an A grade regular with St Pat’s locally while Siejka boasts Premier League Hockey game time with Souths. Both are among the most experienced players in their side.
As a goalkeeper, Newton could have the toughest job of all tomorrow if Orange re-produce what they did against Dubbo while Siejka, generally a forward or striker at club level, will play in defence.
“I am a bit nervous about the game. When you’re a ’keeper you have a split second to make a decision – ‘Will I do this, or will I do that?’ – and you either get it right or you don’t. You don’t get much time to think about it,” Newton said.
“As a goalie, especially against a really strong side like Orange, you will often find after a goal that you just think ‘Well that was a good goal and I couldn’t have done anything about it’, but there are other times when you make a bad decision and you are annoyed afterwards because you could have done something about it.
“I think it is pretty important in a game like this that we talk a lot, particularly myself at the back. We know that it is going to be very tough to win, but every goal counts and if we talk a lot and play well as a team, we can certainly push them and avoid the sort of result that happened to Dubbo.”
For Siejka’s part, she knows that as a top level player in a team that has some inexperience, she is one of the most important figures for the home side.
The majority of the Orange team are Premier League regulars and she is expecting to be busy at the back of the field.
“As someone who plays prem and A grade, I think I can probably contribute the most by going back and helping Macka [Newton] out at the back,” she said.
“There are four or five players in total for us who have played at that level and it is massively important that we all step up and lead and try and talk the younger girls through the game.
“Last year we were both part of the winning Astley Cup team, and I felt like we stepped up against Orange even though we lost that game.”
Newton agreed.
“We lost that match 6-0 and even though it seems like a pretty high-scoring defeat, Orange had a lot of possession and it could have been a lot higher. And as everyone knows in Astley Cup, it is as much about not losing by too much as it is about winning,” she said.
The two hockey sides do battle from 1pm at the Cooke Hockey Complex tomorrow.