THE task confronting them is big but Dubbo College will go into its Astley Cup tie with Orange High during the next two days with an attitude that the annual competition is there for the winning, according to sports organiser Tim Berry.
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Results across the opening two rounds of competition have ensured the Dubbo round will determine this year's champions, although Orange will be heavily favoured due to the current points situation.
Bathurst beat Dubbo 485-315 in round one before going down by the same scoreline last week to Orange.
As a result the defending champions have accumulated one win and one loss with a points tally of 800.
Dubbo would need to win and compile 486 points in the process in order to take the cup, while Orange simply needs to win, the margin is irrelevant.
"Obviously we need to win convincingly but we still have a chance so we have to go in with that mindset," Berry said.
"Against Bathurst we won three sports on the first day and had a big loss in the tennis, so even though we'd had a good day we were behind.
"If we can get the same results in our strong sports and minimise the damage in the sports that we're struggling in then we will put ourselves in with a chance."
Tennis will kick off today's proceedings at 9.30am at the Paramount Tennis Club before the action moves to Dubbo Sportsworld for the netball (12pm) and boys basketball (1.30pm) contests.
Day one wraps up at Pioneer Park with girls hockey (3pm).
The netball match will be one of the highlights of the tie, with both schools having strong sides.
"Both us and Orange beat Bathurst in the netball and it's a sport that Orange are always very strong in," Berry said.
"We have quite a good side too currently so I expect it to be a tough contest."
