Played at the Orange Hockey Complex, Souths went down 5-2 to the 2021 champions, the two blues' first defeat since an opening round loss to Lithgow Panthers.

While Souths went down by three goals, coach Scott Hanrahan said the score line did not reflect the tightness of the match.

"The score line didn't really reflect the game because it was a lot closer than that," he said.

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"A late goal obviously got the score a lot higher for them but it was a close game. We had our chances, but we couldn't quite finish them.

"When CYMS got their chances, they took advantage of them. That was basically how the game went but it was a close game, despite what the score says."

Hanrahan said there's a few things his team can improve on, following the defeat to CYMS.

"Defensively, we fell away a little bit during different periods of the game," he said.

"Our confidence and talk out on the field needs improvement too. We were a bit quiet out there on the field, which is something we definitely need to improve on."

In other matches across the competition, Bathurst City claimed a surprise 1-0 local derby upset against St Pat's, while Parkes bested Orange United 3-2.

After seven rounds, Lithgow Panthers sit first, followed by Souths, St Pat's and Parkes in second, third and fourth respectively.

Bathurst City is in fifth, followed by Orange United in sixth and CYMS in seventh.

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