The Bathurst division one team once again suffered a 16-point defeat to Orange – as they did in the opening round – meaning there’s plenty of improvement needed if the blue and gold are to retain their title.

Bathurst were once again too good for Dubbo (72-21) and Orange 17s (55-39) but coach Michael Germech said chasing down the competition’s leading side in the upcoming finals is going to be a big hurdle.

“We improved in some areas but in others we looked panicked. We didn’t do some of the things that we had worked on at training,” he said.

“It was frustrating because we know what we need to do, and we still have a hill to climb if we’re going to beat this Orange team.

“It was a steady increase in margin throughout the game. We tried a few combinations and a few didn’t work as much as I would have liked. The bottom line is that we didn’t play our best netball and we don’t have a lot of time to rediscover that form from last year.

“Our shooting combination was good in the first half. We were missing one of our stronger centre court players so we looked a little panicked there. Our defence was strong though and that was good to see.”

Bathurst division two team kept their unbeaten run intact but were pushed to the limit in a 59-54 result against an enthusiastic Forbes.

The Bathurst squad won their other games 61-32 over Lithgow and 56-41 over Dubbo.

Victory in the division three competition looks all but assured for the Bathurst under 17s following two dominant wins over Orange 15s and Dubbo.