The strength of Dubbo soccer was on show at the weekend as local sides dominated both the men's and women's divisions of the annual Challenge Cup.
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Macquarie United FC narrowly defeated local rivals Orana Spurs 1-0 in Sunday's men's grand final, with the sides unable to be separated until a stunning Justin Sutton volley with just three minutes remaining.
Dubbo FC Bulls prevailed 1-0 over RSL 78s in the women's decider, and the South Dubbo Wanderers finished third in the men's division.
"For me the pleasing thing about the whole weekend was it was three Dubbo teams that made it into the semi-finals," MUFC first grade coach Alan Auld said.
"So the quality of the football out in Dubbo is really strong."
The women's final also went down to the wire, with midfielder Naomi Bowen slotting the Bulls' winning goal in the second half after Nikki Vicary's goal was disallowed in the first.
Coach Paula Mitchell paid credit to defenders Emily Brierly and Rebecca Sharpe, as well as Bowen for controlling the middle, and Tiffany Stanley for a "stellar weekend with the boot".
"We haven't had any trials so we were adapting game-by-game," Mitchell said.
"I've got a fair bit of talent in the team and a combination of younger, less experienced players and some older, experienced players.
"That was our first weekend playing together so I'm wrapped with how they pulled together."
The men's final was not as spicy as previous meetings between Spurs and Macquarie, Auld said, with everyone emotionally drained by the passing of local great Robert 'Bobby' Hughes the previous week - for whom a minutes silence was held pre-match.
Auld took advantage of a whopper 19-man squad to keep players fresh and it paid off, with Macquarie conceding just two goals across the weekend, and scoring 15.
There's 15 players all vying for a spot in the first grade side's starting 11, Auld said, with as many as 20 he can call on if injury or suspension strike.
He hoped that depth - as well as the addition of Isaac Skinner, Connor Crain and 16-year-olds Brookyln Crain and Jesse Spang - would continue to deliver results.
"We've got a pretty good mix of younger and older players so it's a good starting point ... but we're not getting carried away."
