The skies were black, it was cold and it had even started hailing but the smiles couldn’t be wiped from the faces of Orange High School students after they were announced as 2016 Astley Cup champions on Friday.
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The tie against Dubbo College was tight at times, both schools won four sports each, but Orange scored big victories when it mattered and won 428-372 away from home.
With a win over Bathurst already in the bag, it ensured the colour city will claim the Cup while Dubbo must lick their wounds and hope to score a consolation win in the final tie next week.
On Friday, Dubbo won the rugby league and boys’ soccer while Orange won the hockey and their 1-0 win in the girls’ soccer made the final result certain.
“It’s a pretty exciting feeling to regain the Cup,” Orange High School’s Astley Cup coordinator Tegan Dray said, before speaking about her school’s approach to the tri-school tournament.
“You’ve got to go in with the understanding every point matters and it doesn’t matter if you’re up or down.
“Every point matters and you can’t go out expecting to win or lose so it really, truly is a whole team effort in every sport in that regard.”
Dubbo’s coordinator Rebecca May was left disappointed but proud of her school after one of their better showings in recent years.
The wins in the netball and rugby league were the undoubted highlights but May said the College’s girls’ hockey side deserved praise after losing 4-0 to an Orange team that has made a habit of scoring gargantuan wins.
“Our hockey was a huge improvement on recent times so we’re really pleased with the girls,” she said, before saying how pleased she was by the whole College’s efforts on and off the field.
“Finally we’ve got our junior campuses involved so they’re understanding the whole spirit of the Cup and want to get involved and be part of it.”
May and Dray both made a point of praising all the students for the spirit in which the tie was played.
The atmosphere at every event was near-deafening while the colours of black and red and black and gold were splashed all over Dubbo for the two days of competition.
May added she had no doubt that would continue next week when they College travelled to Bathurst but there was no doubt the final word belonged to Dray and Orange High.
“It does mean a lot and we’ve got a really positive culture at Orange High in terms of recognising each others achievements and celebrating that as well and acknowledging each of the students have skills they bring to the table and they brought it together for the Astley Cup,” she said.