Lithgow Panthers men and women’s sides claimed home grand finals in their major semi-final matches played at Bathurst on Saturday, August 25, but Zig Zag wasn't as lucky in front of their home crowd.
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Zig Zag’s season ended against Bathurst St Pat’s in a tight minor semi, 3-2.
Zig Zag co-captain Luke Sheppard said, despite beating St Pat’s convincingly last week, they did not expect the game to be easy.
“They definitely turned up to play. It was a completely different team to last week. They put it on us - we expected that, they’re a good team,” he said.
“We just didn’t take our chances, we had plenty of opportunities and didn’t take them.”
He praised the contributions of co-captain Zac Sharp and Eli Shirt.
“Zac and Eli really stood up today, as they always do. Everyone played well and everyone put in for the full 70,” Sheppard said.
“We got two late goals in the second half which kept us in the game. We were playing good hockey towards the end but unfortunately couldn’t pull it off. We left it a bit late.”
After an evenly matched first half, in which both teams failed to capitalise on their chances, they went into the break 0-0.
St Pat’s came out firing in the second, with captain Darcy Davis scoring minutes into the stanza. Isaac Darlington took the team’s second moments later.
The Bathurst side took full advantage of the absence of Ben Kelly, sent off with a yellow card, and Davis was in for his second, taking the team 3-0 up with just over 20 minutes to go in the second half.
It was not until there was eight minutes left on the clock that Zig Zag found the back of the net, with Luke Sheppard scoring, quickly followed by a goal from Corey Oldfield.
Lithgow’s supporters were kept breathless as they had a final chance in the dying seconds from a penalty. Unfortunately, despite plenty of momentum in the final minutes, Zig Zag fell short and ended their season.
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St Pat’s captain Darcy Davis said the end result was closer in the end than they would have liked.
“Obviously being up three-nil and then they came back at the end, so 3-2 with about five minutes to go, it was close,” he said.
“We’ve been playing a similar style of hockey all year, so it was really good to get the result today. It’s something that’s been evading us for the last couple of weeks.”
He said it was a team effort that saw the win for the Bathurst side and he looked forward to a local derby against Souths next week.
“We’ll be focusing on the basics again, trying to take through what we’ve done today into the coming week.”
Look out for more details on the Panthers’ wins in the coming days.
Kirsty Horton
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
