Travelling to Lithgow to face Panthers, the reigning men’s Premier League Hockey champions, in their first game of the 2018 season was always going to be a tough day at the office for the young, comparatively inexperienced Orange Wanderers.
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It proved to be just that, and more.
Panthers were ruthless in the way they dispatched of the Orange outfit, piling on goal after goal to waltz to an 11-1 victory.
The rout started early on Saturday with Orange’s Nic Milne, who plays for the Lithgow outfit, finding the back of the net early to go along with Brandon Horner’s quick-fire double and give the hosts a 3-0 lead quickly.
Panthers player-coach Trent Macdonald said, after scoring the first three goals within minutes, the team tried to find the back of the net with every play.
“Obviously that didn't work for us – it was still 3-0 at half time,” he said.
After a half-time chat, the Lithgow team came back out ready to fire. The competition heavyweights smashed home eight more goals to Wanderers’ one to back up their first round victory over Lithgow Zig Zag.
Panthers are now on top of the table and boasting a stunning goal difference of 14, just two games in.
Macdonald praised the work of Brandon Horner up front and Nic Milne in the middle.
He recognised the work of young Lachlan Roach, who has recently stepped up to the premier league side and scored two goals on Saturday. Jacob Townsend, who has made the commitment to travel from Parkes to play for the Panthers team after his local team folded, has brought a welcome injection of experience.
“He’s been great in the last two games,” Macdonald said.
After a bye this weekend, the Panthers will be gearing up for a 2017 grand final rematch against Bathurst St Pat's.
Macdonald said the main challenges the Panthers faces over the coming weeks were gaining match fitness and learning to compensate for a changing playing roster.
“We probably had five or six players missing on the weekend and unfortunately that’s just going to be the season,” he said.
Some players had playing commitments in Sydney and Canberra while others had coaching duties for the Under-18s girls’ squad, which took part in the State competition over the weekend.
“St Pat’s is always a very tough game,” Macdonald said.
“We’ve been pretty unfit – we had no preseason, no trial games. We’ll be training hard this week, working on our fitness base.
“Hopefully we’ll have a full side against St Pat’s. If we can knock them over, those points will be handy for us later in the season.”
Macdonald thanked the Panthers’ major sponsors, Lithgow Tyre Service and the Workmen's Club for their support.
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.
