THE Bathurst District Football men's premier league ladder indicated it could be a great game and that's what spectators got with Sunday's game between Panorama FC Red and Abercrombie FC.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Panorama came away 2-0 winners to draw dead level - on points and goal differential - with Abercrombie on the ladder, in third place, to continue an exciting run towards finals.
Ryan Peacock broke the deadlock in the first half and the advantage was doubled after the break through Brent Osborne.
Abercrombie weren't starved of scoring opportunities and somehow didn't find a way onto the score sheet over 90 minutes.
Panorama player-coach Brent Osborne said his side did a great job to keep Abercrombie at bay.
"Abercrombie definitely had their chances, no doubt about it, but I think we were the better team on the day. It was probably one of our better performances for the year," he said.
"To come away with a clean sheet was really good, and bagging a couple of goals was fantastic."
When Peacock found the back of the net it could have signalled a change of momentum in either direction but the game continued to be a close affair.
Osborne said his side didn't have to change much up at the break.
"We were really happy come half-time. Abercrombie had their chances but we probably had the best of the play," he said.
"We were really organised and our shape was great. I thought we were hard to break down and defensively it was great. I don't think we ever felt like we were going to lose the game."
Given their recent fortunes Sunday's victory over Abercrombie was a welcome one for the Goats.
"Our captain Dyl White broke his elbow and Jarrah Hale, one of our leading goalscorers, broke his leg," Osborne said.
"There's been lots and lots of injuries. We've got a lot of young guys in our squad and they're really starting to step up.
"We can take a lot of confidence out of the weekend. There's plenty of the season to go.
"We may have a new look team compared to what we had last season but I said to them there's more than enough quality in here for us to go forward and be real contenders.
"We have a great bunch of guys and we can do some really good things in the second half of the season."