A 54-22 loss in netball means Bathurst High will have plenty of ground to make up in their Astley Cup tie against Orange High when the tie continues in Bathurst tomorrow.

Orange have a strong record in netball and they were expected to come out strong at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium.

All along, Bathurst said they would be looking to keep the margin as close as possible and for the first quarter they were able to do just that. The gap was just three points.

But from there it continued to grow.

ASTLEY CUP: Pressure point

INTERACTIVE: 2013 Astley Cup 

Positively for Bathurst, they didn't get down on themselves and they were still pushing hard in the final minutes to try and score goals. The outcome means Orange took 71 points from the clash, while Bathurst get 29.

Bathurst High School is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and Bathurst's Astley Cup coordinator Darren Hamilton is hopeful his team can recover from the early setback.

"We really want to win this tie [against Orange] and it would be a great birthday present for the school," he said.

"That [netball] is their [Orange's] dominance and strength. They are regional champions, full of regional players and we knew it was going to be tough.

"It was probably the sort of scoreline we were expecting and I can't fault the girls for their effort. I said to Geoff Hastings, our principal, our teams never give up and we showed that today."

The first quarter proved to be quite close, Orange opening up a three-point buffer, but not able to dominate.

The score was 9-6 at quarter-time, but Orange got their attack in order in the second period and were able to race ahead.

The visitors were also able to hold Bathurst scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the quarter.

Bathurst broke their drought in the final minutes before half-time, but still trailed 23-8 at the main break.

The second half was an exhibition in Orange's talent. Bathurst didn't play badly, but just weren't on the same level.

At three-quarter time Orange held a 36-16 lead and that grew to 54-22 by the final siren.

Goal shooter Sidonie Robertson was a constant threat and despite the best attempts of the Bathurst defence, rarely missed. For Bathurst, noted basketballers Hannah Lepaio and Claire Woolmington were strong in defence and attack respectively.

Orange Astley Cup co-ordinator Tegan Dray was happy with the start to the tie. They are in a strong position after beating Dubbo 561.5 points to 238.5 last week.

"It's always good to put points on the board early. Hopefully this can give the students some motivation," Dray said.

"We really want to beat Bathurst. We don't want to be relying on a result next week, we want to take the trophy."

Both schools acknowledge they have different strengths.

Orange are also hoping to score a good win in the hockey, while Bathurst are expecting their best points to come on Friday.

"I'd like to say our strength lies in those Friday sports, certainly the rugby league and the football are two sports we are hoping to make up the deficit in. The hockey on Thursday is another sport that we have to get through, that could be a similar score and ratio [as the netball]," Hamilton said.

Orange are optimistic about their chances of winning their first title since 2006 and they believe they have the talent in their teams this year to keep things tighter in their weaker sports. They hope that will be good enough to give them the advantage.

"Our netball team is good and we will be relying on the girls' hockey team to also get a win," Dray said.

"We also think our tennis team should go well, while Bathurst are generally pretty good at basketball."