Orange High School’s dream of a second consecutive Astley Cup title is alive, but, the Dubbo College is adamant it can still have a big say in the 2017 tri-school competition.
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Orange High scored a commanding win over Dubbo College in the inter-school competition’s second tie this week, ultimately winning 488-312.
But thanks to their opening tie loss the week before, Orange needs Dubbo to win next week and keep Bathurst to less than 485 points.
“It’s really pleasing, but now all we can do is sit back, follow next week’s tie and hope,” Orange High Astley Cup coordinator Tegan Dray said.
“We had a great day on the first day then another really good day [on Friday] too, our supporters were incredible the whole time.
“Their support made a massive difference.”
Dubbo’s man in charge, Craig May, said despite being disappointed to have gone down to Orange High, the red and blacks won’t lie down against Bathurst next week.
“You want to win, but we didn’t, so it is disappointing but we still have another round against Bathurst. We can still have a big say in this competition,” May said.
“Given [our position], it’s maybe a little unrealistic to think about winning the cup but, we want to finish strong next week against Bathurst.
“At the end of the day we want to win for our own school spirit.”
The black and golds were superb through both of the second tie’s days, dropping just one of the eight sports – rugby league.
But crucially, that was only a 44-26 loss – a 67-37 points split – so it did little damage.
“I knew they’d get points on the board and they did when it mattered. They play really well together, and did a great job,” Dray said.
Two draws (50-50 splits) in the boys’ and girls’ football proved crucial as well, as the Hornets scored dominant wins in the athletics, hockey, netball and basketball, resulting in the emphatic 176-point margin.
We had a great day on the first day then another really good day [on Friday] ... all we can do is hope.
- OHS Astley Cup coordinator Tegan Dray
Conceding its hardly ideal to have their title hopes in the other schools’ control, Dray said it’s entirely possible Dubbo could topple Bathurst – although, she admitted the latter enters that tie as favourites.
It’s on Dubbo’s turf though, where the red and blacks are traditionally much stronger.
“You can see, Bathurst and us have both used that home ground advantage well,” Dray said.
“You have to give the team that won the first tie favouritism, but who knows. We’ve seen upsets before in this competition, and by no means was this tie easy for us. Dubbo was really tough.”
Dubbo hosts Bathurst next Wednesday and Thursday in the final round of the 2017 competition.
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.
