Bathurst under 15s finish ninth Netball NSW Senior State Titles division two in Maitland

Bathurst contested division two of the Netball NSW Senior State Titles at Mailtand from Saturday to Monday, with the team managing seven wins, seven losses and two draws.

While there was a memorable win against Orange, there were several defeats against lowly placed teams.

Bathurst coach Catherine Welch said it was a competition of mixed results for her team.

"I'm a little bit disappointed but overall, I'm pleased," she said.

"The girls again, true to form this season, struggled to find consistency.

"We had some really good wins, but then we dropped some games that we probably shouldn't have.

"Orange finished third and we beat them comfortably, but on the last day, the girls lost to Hastings Valley, who were coming second last. Then they played Charlestown, who were sitting in fifth position, and beat them convincingly.

"It was a bit up and down. They struggled to find consistency. If they'd been able to be at top form for the whole three days, I think we could've placed it a lot higher."

Welch said she couldn't figure out why her team was so inconsistent across the three days.

"The girls have struggled to find consistency all year," she said.

"They went out in the Orange carnival and played brilliantly all day, but at their own home carnival in Bathurst, they had a terrible day, losing to Blayney, who's in division four.

"We went to Hills and they were beating division one teams like the Penrith train-on team. We faced them a week later and they absolutely spanked us.

"I don't know what the answer is to their consistency but I think a lot of it might come down to them not having confidence in themselves.

"When they're on, they're amazing, an extremely talented bunch of young athletes. When they're not, they're really not."

The highlight for the competition remains that 18-14 win against Orange on Saturday.

Orange has long dominated the sport, so any win against the rivals from down the road was always going to be memorable.

"They were thrilled and these girls have never beaten Orange before," Welch said.

"For these girls, this was kind of their benchmark. They know they're doing well if they can be competitive with that Orange squad.

"They were really pleased with that but I wonder how much it took out of them, because the next two games we had draws."

Wagga ultimately won the title, claiming the title on a first-past-the-post basis.

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