THE Bathurst Goldminers women’s State League side experienced a little bit of deja vu on the weekend after coming out of their triple-header with two wins and a defeat.

Playing in the central venue round in Sydney, the Goldminers went into the weekend with a one-from-two record. 

They faced a couple of tough opponents in Coffs Harbour and Maitland and also squared off with Inner West.

On Saturday they managed to cope with their heavy schedule by defeating Coffs Harbour 72-60 in impressive fashion.

Bathurst followed that with a 72-38 thrashing of Inner West.

That meant that for the second year in a row, the Goldminers went into the Sunday game with Maitland chasing three wins from as many matches.

For the second year in a row, they didn’t get it.

The Mustangs proved too strong, although they were given a stern test by the Goldminers across the duration of their clash before claiming a gritty 57-49 win.

“It was a really good quality game, last year I think we lost by 12 and it was a game where we were always on the back foot and trying to chase them,” Bathurst coach Jo Cafe said.

“This time we were putting them under pressure the whole way through the match and it was only some missed shots in the last quarter that saw us lose. 

“They are a very strong side, they have a big, physical team and it was only some of that extra size and experience that probably got them over the line.”

The win over Coffs Harbour was a satisfying one for the coach as they managed to keep another tall team at arm’s length for the majority of the four quarters.

“That game was crucial. They are third in their pool and they only just missed out on the semi-finals last year because of their losses in the cross-over matches to our pool,” the coach explained.

“I thought they had a stronger team than last year, there were a couple of six-footers in their line-up and that sort of size we just don’t have.

“So to contain them the way we did was very satisfying. 

“In the game against Inner West we were basically going through the motions for a lot of it, but the good thing was that we got the chance to get some game time against a team who play a zone defence, which is something we have struggled against. It doesn’t suit us.”

The Goldminers were without star scoring option and captain Teagan Burke as well as Claire Woolmington, but in their absence, experienced duo Rachel Murray and Chelsea Noon were both stand-outs.

On her debut for the side, youngster Olivia Doble came into the line-up and drew high praise from her coach.

* BATHURST GOLDMINERS 72 defeated COFFS HARBOUR 60

* BATHURST GOLDMINERS 72 defeated INNER WEST 38

* MAITLAND 57 defeated BATHURST GOLDMINERS 49