A fantastic reverse tomahawk from Dubbo captain Luke Carman had the home fans on their feet on Saturday but there were few other reason to cheer as the struggling Lions were defeated 9-1 by the Lithgow Panthers at Pioneer Park.
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The match was always shaping as a mountainous task for the Lions, who sit bottom of the ladder, with the Panthers coming into the clash as convincing Premier League Hockey (PLH) leaders.
The match went according to plan for the Lithgow side, who led 5-1 at half time, thanks largely in part to their deadly accuracy from short corners.
Carman stated after the game his side are continuing to fight each match but admitted it was getting to the point where they needed to be thinking about season 2017.
“It’s not our season, this year, and we haven’t won a game but the boys are giving 110 percent every week,” he said.
“We were sticking it to them for about 20 minutes in that second half but that was about it because in the first half we didn’t really give it to them, we were just getting pushed off the ball.”
Carman stated one positive for his side was the fact the they hardly allowed the Panthers to score from open play, but errors inside the circle gave away far too many short corners.
The captain did also manage a grin when discussing his own goal, a ferocious reverse tomahawk from an acute angle that gave Panthers goalkeeper Chris Dispray no chance.
“It was pretty handy,” he laughed.
While Carman scored his side’s only goal, Panthers gun Nick Milne finished with four goals of his own.
Milne was on fire when converting short corners and could have scored even more if not for a number of fine stops by Dubbo goalkeeper Gavin Weekes.
Taylor Dobell was another standout for Panthers while Matt Waters was strong for the Lions, guiding his team around from the middle of the park and also dropping back to assist in defence.
Youngster Jack Erskine was also full of running for the home side.
“We need to build the small things and get the boys to training more,” Carman said when speaking about his side’s goals for the resat of the season.
“It’s starting to die off a bit because we’re not winning many games but we’re just trying to stick it out for the rest of the season and then hopefully come back bigger and better next year.”
LITHGOW PANTHERS 9 (Nick Milne 4, David Marshall 2, Taylor Dobell, Travis Cameron, Trent Macdonald goals) defeated DUBBO LIONS 1 (Luke Carman goal)
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
