Souths' defeat to Orange United pushes Bathurst City out of women's Premier League Hockey

The unlikely scenario was completed over the weekend when Orange United's 2-1 win over Souths in Saturday's last round of the regular season pushed Bathurst City outside of the top four.

It means Lithgow Panthers, Orange CYMS, Parkes United and Orange United will battle it out for the premiership.

Souths co-captain Ali Stanford said it was an intense way for the team to round out the season.

"It was a great game until the last 15 minutes where the tables turned, and got a little nasty at times, but that's alright. It's just a game of hockey," she said.

"I thought as a team we played really well and had more attack and more opportunities. They scored at the end of a short corner ... while we missed out on a few short corners."

Bathurst City had to sit out the last round of the season with a bye and needed a win from the two blues to ensure that United wouldn't take fourth spot away from them.

Souths got off to a great start by going up 1-0 early in the game against United but Orange were able to strike back before the half-time break.

United got ahead in the final quarter after converting from a penalty corner.

Other results in the final round saw Orange CYMS beat St Pat's 3-1 in Bathurst while Lithgow Panthers beat hosts Parkes United 3-2.

Panthers finished runaway minor premiers on 48 points, with CYMS jumping up to second on 28, while Parkes edged out United for third place (both 24 points) based on differential.

Bathurst City ended the year with 22 points, followed by Souths (12) and St Pat's (six).

Stanford said it was a disappointing note to end on not only for the team but for the sake of Bathurst hockey.

"Even though there was nothing in it for us - win, lose or draw - it would have been nice for us to end on a win, and for Bathurst City they obviously missed out on semis because we lost," she said.

"United had to win against us to get through, and because we've lost it means that there's no Bathurst teams in semis this year, which is disappointing. It wasn't just for us that we wanted to win this game.

"Bathurst is super strong with hockey, with its three [women's Premier League] teams, but I think rebuilding years for all of them happened to fall this year."

Lithgow Panthers will host Orange CYMS in next Saturday's major semi-final while Parkes United and Orange United meet in the sudden death minor semi-final.

Meanwhile, the St Pat's men's side lost for the first time this year after going down 2-0 to Parkes on Saturday.

The Saints men will have one more regular season game before they take on the winner of the upcoming Lithgow Storm versus Parkes United preliminary final.

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