HOCKEY
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AN eight goal defeat probably doesn’t sound like a glowing example that a team is on the rise, but the Bathurst City men can take some heart from their 9-1 defeat against Lithgow Zig Zag in Premier League Hockey on Saturday.
For 58 minutes of the match, City gave as good as they got.
However, a disastrous 12-minute period leading up to half-time cost them dearly as the visitors seemed drawn to the back of the net like a magnet at Bob Roach Field.
Having scored through Jack Miller to trail 2-1 after 20 minutes, City could rightly start to plan their next move as they made it a contest.
However, Zig Zag pressed the turbo button as half-time loomed and the game was suddenly over.
Six goals blew the margin out to 8-1 and the contest for City then became a matter of trying to stem the bleeding, which to their credit, they managed to do.
Eli Shirt struck three times for the Lithgow team, Luke and Daniel Sheppard each scored twice and Dean Simmons’ goal made it eight for the half.
Ben Kelly added a ninth in the second last minute of the game.
“It is an encouraging sign that we could match them for as much of the game as we did, the boys are starting to identify their structure and work to it a bit more,” stand-in coach Noel Reardon said.
“Zig Zag are fit, they are fast, and they play well as a team. I’m really impressed with how we lifted after half-time, it was just a shame that we couldn’t be at that level during that period where they really piled it on.
“As a club we’re trying to grow ourselves, and at the moment we’re coming up against bigger, faster and more experienced teams every week and it makes it tough.
“That finish to the first half was extremely disappointing because we went from playing the game, at least to a degree, on our terms and keeping it slow, to trying to play the same way Zig Zag were, and it obviously didn’t work.”
After slipping behind early, a Brad Miller cross was delivered with precision to Jack Miller, who easily converted for City to get back within a goal.
It didn’t seem to worry Zig Zag, who drew with competition favourites St Pat’s a fortnight ago at the same venue and had every right to be confident heading into the game.
Shirt and the two Sheppards were an irresistible force up front for Lithgow and blew City out of the water with their torrent of goals before the siren came to the hosts’ rescue.
Goalkeeper Tom Scott made a series of tremendous saves in the second half to keep the scoreboard static and at one stage Jaidyn Hunt missed what he would consider a sitter that would have gotten his side back to 8-2.
Kelly managed to get a deflection on a ball played into the circle to complete the win for the visiting Zig Zag side.
“I thought our two goalies were probably among our best today, Tom in the second half made a heap of really good saves, and Kris Grant who played the first half, even though the score doesn’t show it, made a lot of good efforts as well,” Reardon concluded.
LITHGOW ZIG ZAG 9 (Eli Shirt 3, Luke Sheppard 2, Daniel Sheppard 2, Dean Simmons, Ben Kelly) defeated BATHURST CITY 1 (Jack Miller)