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OCLife | sporting life

Sports Cam — IMAGES BY HENRY DEROOY — Photographer Henry DeRooy stopped by Sir Jack Brabham Park on Saturday to catch some of the action in the junior soccer competition. In the Under 6s, we have CYMS White taking on clubmates CYMS Red. And in the Under 13s CYMS Gold hosted the Waratahs Mariners.

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JUNE 30 — JULY 6, 2022

sporting life | OCLife

BARNIES STUN WARATAHS IN LOCAL DERBY CLASSIC A hard-fought 2-0 victory over Waratahs earned Barnies bragging rights during last Saturday's intense derby at Jack Brabham Park.

Dowler pounced on an opponent's defensive error and glided his shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal.

This Barnstoneworth-Waratahs derby was Orange's most ferociouslycontested football match in recent years. The game evokes the heated emotions often witnessed in European professional derbies such as Inter-AC Milan, Liverpool-Manchester United, Tottenham-Arsenal, and CelticRangers. An electric atmosphere and bitter history between these two Western Premier League favourites made it an entertaining spectacle for the neutrals gathered at Bernie Steadman Field.

Still recovering from the shock of conceding the opener, the Tahs soon started to create several attacking plays that led to a couple of golden opportunities. During their best chance, they were millimetres away from grabbing the equaliser when they hit the upright.

After losing 5-0 to Waratahs in the opening round of the 2022 season, Barnies were seeking vengeance against their biggest local rivals. Their improved performances and form caught the ‘Tahs by surprise in this top-four clash.

Barnies, surprisingly, controlled the possession and goal-scoring chances from the kick-off. Their high-pressing style helped them take an early lead inside the first five minutes after Tim

But after a small spell of dominating the chances on goal, the frustration among the Waratahs players continued to grow. Tahs’ sluggishness with the ball led to Barnies doubling their lead in the 43rd minute. In a move that began with some neat passing and intelligent build-up play, the Barnstoneworth winger crossed a delicate cross to the near post, where Dylan Hallz headed home a fine goal.

As halftime approached, a fight broke out between both sets of players and some of the coaching staff. The heated exchanges continued until the players entered the change rooms during the break.

Having cooled off, the players

entered the second 45 minutes in a calmer fashion. Despite the friction, the entertaining football was once again underway.

The halftime conflict seemed to have further distracted the Waratahs as they conceded a penalty a minute after the restart. But thanks to the Tahs’ keeper producing a heroic save on the spot-kick, the trailing side still had a glimpse of hope.

The penalty save still didn’t inspire the Waratahs, as they struggled to string any passes together and couldn’t execute their usual counterattacking style of play. With Barnies still on top, the game’s leaders were unlucky not to have found the net on several more occasions.

With flying tackles and yellow cards coming out of the referee’s pocket, Barnies continued to slow

the game’s tempo and demonstrate their resilience in defence. Waratahs thought they pulled a goal back in the last 10 minutes, but an offside call ruled it out.

In the end, Waratahs completely ran out of steam and creativity to crack this well-drilled Barnies side. By getting revenge on their rivals with this impressive victory, Barnstoneworth is now only three points behind secondplaced Waratahs.

Waratahs will need to quickly regroup ahead of their round 13 meeting with the undefeated Bathurst ‘75, while Barnies host an inconsistent Macquarie United.

Waratahs’ lack of composure and persistent tendency to fly-off when they get behind on the scoreboard, is a continuing blight on their sporting reputation.

Orange Tigers celebrate 40 years of AFL in Central West The Orange Tigers AFL club celebrates its 40th anniversary this July, with a “heritage round” and Old Boys reunion dinner planned.

The Tigers are the most decorated AFL club in the Central West, boasting 10 premierships during their 40-year history.

To celebrate the Club’s proud history, the Orange Tigers are holding a Heritage Round on Saturday, July 16.

Orange Tigers Old Boy, Marty Fahy, anticipates a full day of footy action and an enjoyable evening at the Waratahs Sports Club.

“There will be three games on the day, with all three senior division sides facing the Bathurst Bushrangers in round 10,” Marty said.

Players model the original Tigers jumpers that will be worn during the Heritage Round game. The jumpers will be auctioned off at a dinner celebrating the club’s 40th anniversary.

“The Tier 2 side will kick-off the day before the Women’s team and the first-grade squad play their games in the afternoon. We usually have an Old Boys day at the end of the season, but this year we’re rolling it in all together with the 40th anniversary.”

The Heritage Round will see the first-grade team will be wearing the old-look orange jerseys with the traditional black diagonal stripe. The club will also auction the throwback jerseys during the dinner at the Waratahs Sports Club.

“Our first-grade team will be wearing the original Tigers jumpers during their game. All the Heritage jumpers that the first-grade players wear will be auctioned off at the dinner celebrations later that night,” Marty said.

Orange Tigers have been trying to get in touch with as many Old Boys as possible for the event.

“We’ve been trying to track as many former club players, administrators, sponsors and supporters to add to the Old Boys list. At the moment, there are roughly around 148 people on the Orange Tigers Old Boys list,” Marty added.

The festivities begin with the series of home games at Waratahs' AFL fields and conclude with a nostalgic evening paying tribute to the Orange Tigers’ history.

JUNE 30 — JULY 6, 2022

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OCLife | around the grounds with ANTHONY BARBAGALLO

BARRACKER THE

Loving your sport, means letting it compete fairly

Recently dropping in to watch a game of rugby league as part of this year’s Astley Cup competition at Wade Park, brought back some wonderful memories.

huge efforts into trying to shoe-horn their game into the sports curriculum of both government and private schools.

Seeing the school spirit on display from both the Orange and Bathurst supporters — the colour, fun, and sense of optimism from the event — made me smile.

When the still-new sport of rugby league was being hounded by the renewed efforts of rugby to destroy it in the 1920s, it was the steadfast and continued support in the Catholic Schools for the working-class game, that kept in going.

With the Orange high students providing a rendition of the English cricket fans’ “We’re the Barmy Army” chant after each try, the Bathurst students’ celebrations comprised a highly amusing rendition of “Sweet Bathurst High” sung to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”.

As an old-stager who finished his own schooling more than 40 years ago, it was great to see that some things don’t change!

I remember the same sort of singing and good-natured carousing during my own school playing days, though my alma mater was a real old “rah-rah” rugby school, although officially part of the public system.

With the Astley Cup, it’s worth noting that both boys rugby and girls softball were, at some time in the past, replaced by rugby league and girls soccer.

The rise and fall of the popularity of sports is a preoccupation with administrators, sponsors, and supporters, the world over.

This is particularly so in Australia where we have four major football codes, and a plethora of American, British, and world sports on offer ranging from cricket, tennis, basketball, netball, boxing, martial arts, swimming, and volleyball.

In this climate, the sports on offer at various schools can have a profound effect on the likely choices that children will make, not just as players, but as spectators and supporters of that sport, and advocates for it, in the future.

While I played any number of sports ranging from rugby, tennis, competitive swimming, boxing, track and field, soccer, and touch football, rugby league still holds sway because it was the first competitive sport I played as an eightyear-old.

Sports administrators, therefore, put

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For some sports, this can be a matter of life and death.

But you can love a sport, as the saying goes, don’t just love it to death!

While my own school insisted on continuing to keep rugby as the paramount sporting code in our school “zone” (as sporting districts were called in Sydney), European immigration and the transformation of our district from a semi-rural area on the edge of Sydney, to major growth suburbs, led to soccer (football), rugby league, and even hockey, being far more popular local sports.

Despite pleas from its mostly workingclass students and parents to introduce other football codes, the school steadfastly stuck to its 1950s rugby traditions, weekend games away against Randwick High, Chevalier College in Bowral, and St Stanislaus in Bathurst, the whole school turning out for Waratah Shield games, and special privileges for its footy stars.

It was all a bit nauseating and, ultimately, doomed. High-migrant schools like Sefton, Birrong, Fairfield, Bankstown, and Liverpool High, had precious little interest in rugby, and the competition eventually folded.

Thankfully, the days when most educational facilities listed themselves as “rugby”, “league” or “soccer” schools have passed. For sports to survive, they should do so on their merits. All schools do best when they offer a range of sports to cater for the huge variety of skills, temperaments, interests, and physical attributes, of their kids.

My old school? I caught a train past a few months ago — the main oval’s footie field, was now home to the typical fourpost arrangement of Australian Football!

JUNE 30 — JULY 6, 2022

Western Premier League: Round 13 action

Rugby League: Peter McDonald Premiership action Dubbo Macquarie Raiders upset Orange CYMS

Electric Bathurst ‘75 blow away Orange CYMS Bathurst ‘75 had an appe�te for goals in last Saturday’s 8-1 win against Orange CYMS at Proctor Park.

CYMS came into this clash with confidence a�er three consecu�ve draws in recent weeks. But despite their posi�ve run of form, the green-and-gold couldn’t cause any upset or muster any fight against the well-drilled and dynamic Bathurst ‘75.

While the recent draws highlighted some improvements in defence, the CYMS backline was simply no match for the clinical finishers of this 75’s squad. This heavy defeat surpasses the 5-1 loss when these two sides last met in the first round.

CYMS have the bye in Round 13, meaning they can use this period to patch some things in the defence.

AFL Central West first-grade action Dubbo Demons dominate Orange Tigers to stay in top-two Dubbo Demons were too strong for Orange Tigers on Saturday a�er recording a 111-48 win at South Dubbo Oval.

The Tigers only scored 22 points in three quarters, exposing their deficiencies going forward. But the visitors finished stronger in the final quarter, where they grabbed 26 points. It’s now six consecu�ve losses for the Tigers, who remain bo�om of the compe��on with four points from eight rounds.

Rugby Union: Blowes Cup first-grade action Emus down Orange City in local derby Emus’ crea�vity and aggressive play steered them to their second derby victory this season, bea�ng a winless Orange City 36-11 at Pride Park on Saturday.

Despite City’s improved performances in recent weeks, the Lions were no match for their long-�me rivals this �me around. All the momentum was with the Emus, who were rock-solid in the back and sharp on the a�ack.

This recent derby win means Emus jump into third spot in the standings, only six points behind Bathurst Bulldogs and seven points behind the compe��on’s leaders, Cowra Eagles. Orange City s�ll sits in last place with three points from nine rounds.

Dubbo Macquarie Raiders handed Orange CYMS their second loss of the season, pulling off a 32-24 victory in front of their home crowd at Apex Oval.

CYMS’ inconsistency in the backline, has raised ques�ons as to whether they can go the en�re distance this season. This shock loss comes at a vital �me before the greenand-gold face St Pat’s in round 11.

St Pat’s too good for Orange Hawks St Pat’s cruised to a 22-0 win over an inconsistent Orange Hawks on Sunday a�ernoon at the Jack Arrow Spor�ng Complex.

The Hawks have struggled to recapture their fine form from the start of the campaign, cos�ng them crucial points in the second half of the season. This loss means the two blues slide into fi�h, allowing St Pat’s to capture fourth spot momentarily.

Orange Netball: Senior Women’s Division 1, Round Eight League leaders, Orange City Craig Harvey Mechanical, ran riot in their 77-29 victory over Hawks Marvas� Security. The solid performance keeps them undefeated and two points ahead of second-placed Vipers.

The OHS Hornets successfully passed a tricky test against third-placed Life Studio.

This win takes the Hornets to within two points of the top-four.

Orange City Our City Real Estate clinched a 57-53 win over a tenacious LS MID West Eyes. It’s a crucial victory that keeps Orange City Our City Real Estate in fourth place.

The Vipers convincingly got the job done against last-placed KWS Firsts by recording a 67-27 win.

Central West Premier League Hockey Women’s division: Revitalised CYMS stun Souths On Saturday a�ernoon, an improved CYMS team pulled off an incredible upset by taking down second-placed Souths 5-2 at the Orange Hockey Complex.

It’s CYMS’ second victory of the season and a step in the right direc�on of escaping the bo�om sec�on of the standings.

Parkes edge past Orange United in a five-goal thriller Parkes clinched a 3-2 win against a brave Orange United on Saturday. Despite losing, United s�ll sit two points behind the top four.

sporting life | OCLife

Glory, glory, glory!

Orange’s Astley Cup Wins runneth over — PHOTOS BY MEL POCKN

ALL — Orange High School ha s secured the Astley Cu p for the first time since 2016 follow ing a solid away round win against cupholders Dubbo Senior College last week.

One of Australia’s great school sport s competi tions, Orange High was already lookin g good after earlier co mi ng out on top of Bathurst in the first round of the contest.

The Astley Cup is a lon g-standing sporting co mpetition between Bathurst Hig h, Orange High, and Du bb o Senior College. After besting Bathurst previously in the round-robin competition, Orange he aded off to Dubbo to tak e on the current champions.

Conceived in Dubbo in 1923, the Astley Cup inv olves the three schools competi ng in a series of team and individual sport s that also includ es a debating competi tion, the coveted Mulvey Cup. Games are played in eig ht sport s: athletics an d tennis, which are mixed teams; girls netball, hockey and so cc er; and boys rugby league, basketba ll, and soccer.

In the competition’s ea rly days, rugby union too k the place of rugby league, with gir ls soccer having, in rec en t years, replaced sof tball.

JUNE 30 — JULY 6, 2022

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