After a first-up loss in its Astley Cup tie-opening tennis fixture on Thursday morning Orange High School went into the next event, the boys’ football, looking to cancel that out by producing a monumental upset of a powerful Bathurst outfit.
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Heart-breakingly, the Hornets went within five seconds doing just that.
The hosts led 2-1 at Orange High School’s back oval heading into the final minute and held out two pinpoint Bathurst corners and looked to have sealed an unlikely win before, with the full-time whistle seconds away, the visitors mounted one final raid.
They were down to 10 at this point too, after Tom Rooke was given his marching orders with a red card in the dying stages.
Hornets goalkeeper Jordan Bruce, who was outstanding throughout, kept the first shot out but Bathurst gun Steve Long was in the right place at the right time, knocking in the rebound to equalise and spark raucous celebrations from the visitors on and off the field.
“It was definitely disappointing, but at the end of the day a 2-2 draw isn’t the worst result for us in the big scheme,” Hornets coach Aaron Routh said, referring the 50-50 overall points split.
“We did come into the game with a few doubts against a really good side, we went in looking to push it, and push it, and push it, and we did.”
The clash wasn’t without its controversy though.
Will Cooney scored in the 46th minute – his second of the afternoon – from a rebounded corner to put Orange High ahead 2-1 with 14 to play, but his successful shot came after the ball rebounded from the crossbar.
The Bathurst outfit claimed it had actually struck the top bar rather than the bottom – Orange High’s posts are made for rugby league too, and have a cross-bar for both sports attached, one above the other – which would’ve been a goal-kick, but the goal was awarded.
“There’s always controversy in a football game, unfortunately that call went against us but the referee is always under pressure and he did a good job in that game. The boys didn’t take it to heart too much and bounced back late, they showed a lot of character,” Bathurst coach Paul Waine, a relieved man after Long’s equaliser, said.
“I did maybe think we deserved a bit more than a draw, I probably thought we were the better side but look the World Cup in Russia, good teams don’t always get the results they think they should. That’s a coach’s comment too.
“We’re very pleased to get the 50-50 split overall and it was played in the right spirit too, it was a really good game of football.”
Waine’s comment that his side deserved the victory wasn’t an unfounded one, considering the visitors dominated possession, territory, corners and shots on goal along with being the far more efficient side with the ball.
In short, Bathurst was the better side in virtually every statistic, except the one that really counts of course, goals scored.
Orange High’s tenacity and determination in defence had plenty to do with that as did Bruce’s superb performance in goals, and Bathurst’s lack of polish in front as well.
On several occasions the visitors found themselves one-on-one with Bruce, only for Orange High’s shot-stopper to turn them away or the shot miss completely.
“He’s a legend, Jordan, he’s only in year 10. He’s young, so we’ll hopefully get a few more good years out of him. He was outstanding,” Routh said.
For the most part in the opening half Bathurst had the upper hand, their biggest chance coming from a Ryan Rooke free kick five minutes in, although the Hornets probably won the ascendency back late in the period.
Either way, the two sides entered the break deadlocked at 0-0 before Cooney pushed the hosts in front just one minute into the second half.
He latched on to a stunning long ball from the back, tipping on with the head to find the back of the net.
The lead didn’t last long, as Alex Smith channeled his inner Tim Cahill to finish a perfectly-delivered Rooke corner just four minutes later.
The visitors could’ve, or should’ve rather, pushed ahead just minutes later too, but missed a couple of those golden one-on-one chances in front.
First Bruce denied Rooke one-on-one but the rebound gave the Bathurst star a relatively straight-forward chance, with nothing but net in front. He missed left.
Rooke found space again a minute later, this time opting to nudge a ball across the face and deny Bruce any chance of saving an easy shot from a following player, who wasn’t there.
Rooke, naturally, was furious with the lack of chasing support.
His anger was compounded when Cooney grabbed his contentious second a couple of minutes after that to push Orange High ahead 2-1, with just 14 minutes to play.
The two sides traded chances late in the clash, at one stage the Hornets screamed for a penalty after a perceived hand ball in the box, but neither could trouble the scorers until Long’s last-minute equaliser.
- ORANGE HIGH SCHOOL 2 (Will Cooney 31’, 46’) drew with BATHURST HIGH SCHOOL 2 (Alex Smith 35’, Steve Long 59’)