BATHURST’S under 21s survived a big scare from their under 17s counterparts in their meeting at yesterday’s Bathurst Bicentenary Carnival.

Friends were pitted against friends in a fun match that, nonetheless, both teams badly wanted to win.

In the end, the 21s ran away 16-13 winners thanks to a better second half.

It capped off a strong day for the 21s, who finished as one of the top teams in the open division.

Coach Catherine Welch enjoyed the win in a very friendly half-length match.

“It’s always difficult when you’re playing against your home association,” she said.

“The girls know each other and half of the 17s played with some of the 21s as well, so they’re all good friends. We did come away with the win in the end, which is nice.

“The expectation is on the 21s to win. For us to not win is worse than the 17s to not win.

“They [21s] were trying to be a little bit fancy. 

“Because the girls have played together for such a long time, defensive circle knew exactly what we were up to. Once they pulled it back and stuck to the fundamentals of netball then we had more success.”

A couple of missed shots and turnovers allowed the 21s to get away to a 6-3 lead very quickly in the first half.

Up by three, the mistakes started to creep into the senior side’s game around their entry into the goal circle. 

While the 21s tried to rush the 17s in attack, the younger side were more than up to dealing with it and punished the older side for their impatience.

The score read 7-7 at half-time. The 17s  came into the break with more momentum, but couldn’t go on with it.

The 21s regained their composure in the second half and a string of three turnovers for the 17s allowed their Bathurst counterparts to score five straight goals and effectively seal the result.

The 21s claimed a draw to start their day against Bathurst A grade side Vixens, followed by wins over Parkes and Goulburn. 

Another win came against another of the city’s A grade sides, LJ Hooker, before the 21s went down to Bulldogs Verdelho in their sole loss of the day.

The most satisfying result of the carnival for the side came with their win over Orange, a team who bettered them at their own carnival recently.

It was all valuable match time for Welch’s team, who often struggle to find it.

“It’s nice that the weather’s held off. I thought it was going to rain earlier,” she said.

“It’s good for the girls to have a run together. With the A grade teams thrown in there it is [a good standard]. The 21s, we struggle to find carnivals that they can go to. 

“Most associations run their carnivals up to 17s, not opens. We’ve had Orange, this one and Cowra in a couple of weeks and that’s it.”

Bathurst picked up wins in two divisions, the under 13s and the opens division one through Vixens.