Orange High School came agonisingly close to winning the NSW Combined High Schools Boys’ Knockout on Thursday but despite the semi-final loss, there isn’t an ounce of disappointment in the Hornets’ camp at all.
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Why would there be, OHS coach Mel Hope asked rhetorically, finishing equal third in the state is pretty darn good by anybody’s standard.
While Hope admitted the Hornets missed some opportunities in the semi-final loss to Grafton and then again in their third place playoff against Lambton, she said she couldn't be prouder of the young OHS group.
The side is so young in fact, there’s only a trio of senior players in it.
That bodes well for future years.
Plenty have already suggested, with the likes of NSW representative Bailey Ferguson still in the ranks, that this is a future state championship-winning side.
“I’m extremely proud of them, they’re a brilliant group of boys to coach,” Hope, who was assisted by Orange Hockey legend Pete Shea, said.
“It’s a really talented group of boys across the park, we didn’t have to rely on any individual players at all.
I'm extremely proud of them, they're a brilliant group of boys to coach ... it’s a really talented group of boys across the park.
- OHS coach Mel Hope
“Most of the side are in year 10 or younger, there’s only two year 12s and one year 11 in the side.
“They’ve trained so hard and had a lot of great coaches and mentors from the local competitions, which has set them up nicely to perform at this level.”
After waltzing through the Western stages of the competition OHS had the bye in the top 32 before coming up against the formidable Westfields Sports High in the top 16.
They won that game to become the first OHS boys’ side to ever crack the top eight in the state.
The remarkable win against one of the nation’s biggest sporting nurseries – the likes of Michael Clarke, Israel Folau, Harry Kewell, Jarryd Hayne all came from there in their chosen sports, along with a host of hockey guns – shot OHS into the final eight.
From there they traveled to Newcastle on Wednesday and Thursday in a bid for NSW glory.
They promptly beat Kirrawee on Wednesday morning to qualify for the final four, where they lost to eventual champions Grafton.
OHS drew with Lambton in Thursday’s third place playoff, forcing the two schools to share bronze.
Grafton went on to win the title with a 2-0 victory in the final over Lithgow.
“We had a few missed opportunities in [the final four games] that we didn’t capitalise on but the boys played really solid hockey,” Hope said.
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.
