Bathurst wins Hockey NSW Men's Over 50s Masters division B title on home turf

The team claimed the Hockey NSW Men's Over 50s Masters division B title on Sunday on their home turf at Cooke Hockey Complex, beating Coffs Coast 3-1 in the decider.

Coffs Coast bested Bathurst in the opening game of the tournament on Friday, running out 3-0 winners, but that just made the home side regather themselves and focus harder over their remaining games.

Bathurst grounded out a tough 1-0 victory over Central Coast later in the day and then returned the next morning to down Manning Valley 3-0, taking them to second in the pool and into a semi-final.

The team had to face the other pool's top side, Sydney, in the afternoon's semi but had little trouble during a 4-1 success.

Bathurst got the revenge they wanted over Coffs Coast in the grand final and in the process booked their ticket back up to division A for next year's tournament.

Wayne Wright, who was part of the winning Bathurst squad, said lessons were learned from the first encounter with Coffs.

"We had our chances in the first game but we just didn't put any of them away, and they scored three really nice goals," he said.

"In the same game against them, the grand final, we put those chances away.

"They're a great bunch of blokes in this team, and our manager did a great job. It was a great all-round team effort, and we had a full bench, which always helps.

"In this age group you've got to have that full bench because everyone's got niggling injuries."

After skipping away to an early lead in the grand final and then doubling their advantage Bathurst had to survive a nervous period when Coffs hit back.

However, a third goal gave the hosts a buffer to work with and they were able to see off some late pressure.

"We led 3-1 with around 10 to 15 minutes to go and they started to apply a fair bit of pressure to us," Wright said.

"Our defence was very solid and that was great to see."

It was almost a Central West double at the tournament when Parkes came up short in the division A grand final, going down to Sydney 2-1.

The venue also played host to the Over 70s Men's Masters Championships across the three days.

Bathurst's side came home in sixth in the 70s competition, with the top prize going the way of Sydney, giving them a title double over the weekend.

The next men's masters events on the calendar will be the Over 34s-40s at Nepean from April 8 to 10, followed by the Over 55s edition at Goulburn from May 6-8.

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