HOME city and Western NSW Mariners squads tested themselves against some of the state’s leading under 13 to 16s soccer talent over the weekend at the Bathurst Cup at Proctor Park.
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It was a tough weekend for the home sides in the annual tournament but it proved to be a valuable experience for all players going into the rapidly-approaching 2017 season.
“We had a lucky run with the weather and didn’t lose any games,” competition co-ordinator Andrew Fearnley said.
“There was a good number of teams and a good number of players here. It was a great experience for everyone.”
Fearnley said the Bathurst squads had a good opportunity to push themselves to the limit at the cup.
“The Bathurst district teams mainly play in this competition for the experience. They’re taking on some high-level teams,” he said.
“It was very good to see our Western Mariners 15s and 13s make it through to the semi-finals. Was disappointing that neither could make it through to the finals.
“Our 14s and 16s Mariners teams have had a high turnover of players so this was a great chance for them to get to know each other’s game.
“This competition is a good chance for us to get in five to six games that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to get in our pre-season.”
Both of the Mariners’ semi-finals squads came close to booking a spot in the decider.
The 13s went down 2-1 to Blacktown while a penalty shoot-out denied the Mariners 15s a final appearance after finishing 2-all at full-time against Sutherland Shire.
Football South Coast were far too strong for Blacktown in the under 13s final as they claimed a 5-0 win.
Sutherland came away with the spoils in their first finals appearance, knocking Woden Weston over 2-1 to take the 14s title.
There wasn’t the same result for Sutherland’s other finalists in the under 15s division. South Coast won 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out to claim their second title of the weekend.
Albury Wodonga and Belconnen United had met prior to the final of the 16s competition where neither side could be split in a 3-all draw.
However, the Albury Wodonga squad peaked at the right time of the tournament to claim the final 2-0.
Fearnley said the big associations stamped their authority across all age groups.
“Football South Coast did well with two of their teams making the finals. Sutherland Shire are a catchment of 18,000 players and South Coast have 11,000. They’re very big areas,” he said.
“Blacktown are another big area who were quite strong. Belconnen did well and they’re a strong club.”
The Bathurst fields will remain a busy venue this weekend for the Proctor Park Challenge.
