HOCKEY
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IF the Orange Wanderers of a year or two ago, even last year to a degree, were shabby for the opening 10 minutes of a clash and conceded a goal in that period, you could shut the gate.
Game over.
Not the Wanderers of 2015 it seems.
With a “scrappy” start leading to Dubbo opening the scoring in the sixth minute at Orange Hockey Complex on Saturday, Wanderers turned out a stunning performance for the remaining 60 minutes of the men’s Premier League Hockey clash, winning 5-1.
It took until the 19th minute for the hosts to equalise, through Luke Skelton, before Hayden Dillon and Keiran Gentles netted goals of their own to extend their side’s lead to two at the half-time break.
Gentles scored his second just nine minutes after half-time, and Matt Johnson put the final nail in Dubbo’s coffin in the 67th.
“We regrouped,” Wanderers co-captain Adam Hurford said.
“We didn’t start well, we were a bit panicky really. But once we settled into it we played some really good hockey.
“We controlled the ball really well, all our passes were sticking and obviously the boys finished very well up front.
“More than anything we controlled the tempo of the game and that’s what made the biggest difference I think.”
Hurford said Gentles’ performance in the midfield was a highlight, along with Dillon and Johnson’s, before also lauding his side’s defensive effort.
“Keiran and Hayden really controlled the game well from the midfield,” Hurford said.
“They played really well, and Matty, well he’s just a freak. A goal shooting and scoring phenom.
“Other than that, we’d worked really hard during the week on our defensive stuff, just basic tackling and that sort of thing. It paid off.”
ORANGE WANDERERS 5 (Keiran Gentles 2, Hayden Dillon, Matt Johnson, Luke Skelton) def DUBBO 1 (Hunter Medcalf).