ORANGE Wanderers’ men’s Premier League Hockey finals aspirations took a heavy blow on Saturday when the side suffered a disappointing loss to Lithgow Zig Zag at Orange Hockey Complex.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 3-2 defeat resigns Wanderers to sixth with six regular season games to go and although they’re only six points adrift of the top four the Orange side has to face competition leaders Lithgow Panthers twice in that six weeks along with second-placed Bathurst St Pat’s as well.
“It does make it tough for us now, but the beauty of this year is that the competition is so close,” Wanderers player-coach Matt Johnson said.
“Sixth, in the circumstances, sounds a lot worse than it actually is I think. It’s only a win or two and we do play Parkes as well, who are fifth.
“After the St Pat’s game a few weeks ago we sort of got talked about as a team to beat, so teams above us still think we’re a side to beat, we just need to go out and prove it now.
“I’ve said it for a while, but any side in the top six can win it. With that in mind, we’re really looking forward to playing Panthers now.
Teams above us still think we're a side to beat, we just need to go out and prove it now.
- Wanderers player-coach Matt Johnson
“The kind of loss we had [on Saturday] can derail a side’s campaign, so we just need to make sure our morale stays high and we don’t let that happen.”
Wanderers started slowly, very slowly, which Johnson said ultimately proved costly.
Lachlan Sharp and Daniel Sheppeard put Zig Zag up 2-0 inside the opening 15 minutes, although Keiran Gentles did get one back for Wanderers not long after.
A Bradon Lloyd goal in the 28th minute lifted Zig Zag’s buffer back up to two at half-time though.
“That slow start did end up costing us,” Johnson said.
“We were just lethargic and they came out and went bang-bang and just like that, they’re up by two.
“We might have been a bit complacent too. We got one back after half-time, but couldn’t convert our opportunities later in the game.”
Johnson scored that second goal for Wanderers, in the 38th minute.
“It was really end-to-end stuff after that,” Johnson said.
“Both sides had opportunities, we scrambled really well defensively to keep Lithgow out but we also couldn’t finish our own opportunities either.”
LITHGOW ZIG ZAG 3 (Lachlan Sharp, Daniel Sheppeard, Bradon Lloyd) def ORANGE WANDERERS 2 (Keiran Gentles, Matt Johnson)
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
