Rarely can a seventh versus 10th fixture be considered the game of the weekend but considering Orange City and CSU Bathurst’s similar desperation for a win, you could argue Saturday’s round seven Blowes Clothing Cup clash at University Oval is just that.
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While the students’, last on negative six points, finals hopes seem very slim at best the Lions are a real chance of making the top five and this weekend’s fixture kicks off a run of four games they’ll consider very winnable.
After CSU, Orange City plays Mudgee, Parkes and Cowra. Four straight wins would put the Lions right back on track for the post season.
“We’ve got a favourable draw over the next month, but considering we’re two and four we probably look pretty good in the other teams’ eyes too,” Orange City captain Sam Coote admitted.
“So, our sole focus is on CSU. Simply, we can’t think about other games or we’ll lose.
“They’ll be really tough, they’re in the same position as us in terms of how desperate we are for a win.”
The Lions are battling injuries too, making things even tougher for the side to gather any continuity and momentum.
“We need to be patient and try and ensure everyone’s on the same page. That is tough, because only five of the players who started against Emus two weeks ago finished last week’s game against Forbes,” Coote said.
“We’ve got guys playing out of position but they’ve all got plenty of ability, we back them all the way, but patience and communication is the key in situations like these”.
Saturday’s fixture is the second week in a row CSU will play an Orange side, the students were thumped 40-0 by Emus last weekend but it was a promising showing.
They kept the greens to just one converted try in the second half.
CSU coach Scott Hatch said his side kept pace with Emus throughout the second half and it’s that brand of rugby he wants to see against the Lions.
“We’re obviously heading in the right direction but we’ve got to start putting points on the board,” Hatch said.
“We have to give ourselves more running options. We’ve had a pattern that we’ve put in place all year but the boys aren’t running it.
“We’ve been going that way at the moment so we’re confident we can be right in this.”
Orange City will confirm its depleted side on Friday morning.
Kick off at University Oval, affectionately known to CSU as The Zoo, is at 3.15pm.