ORANGE Wanderers coach Pete Shea wasn’t entirely happy with his side’s performance against Bathurst City on Saturday, but he’ll take the 3-1 win anyway, which keeps the Orange side’s men’s Premier League Hockey finals hopes alive.

Played at Orange Hockey Complex, Wanderers dominated the majority of the game but still managed to butcher almost half-a-dozen genuine chances to score - outside the three goals they did net - in a performance which, while securing them victory, left plenty to be desired.

“We got a good win today which is what we wanted, so that’s good,” Shea said.

“But execution was quite poor today. We could’ve finished off a lot more chances than we did, we probably could’ve finished with three or four more goals if we had executed.

“Our midfield play was a bit scrappy today, I think was the disappointing part. But, anyway, we did enough to win so we’ll move on.”

Wanderers took just three minutes to open the scoring through Luke Skelton and with a plethora of possession inside Bathurst City’s half, and a handful of chances inside the opening 10 minutes, the Orange team looked likely to threaten hitting double figures.

Unfortunately for Wanderers, the lack of execution Shea was left lamenting came to the fore.

Wanderers continually produced attacking chances, whether it be through swift midfield work or through counterattack, but were unable to find the touch into the back of the net and, more often, were unable to stick the last pass.

It took a Matt Johnson special to extend the Orange side’s lead, when he took the onus on himself and banged one in from the top of the circle after 25 minutes to lead 2-nil at the half-time break.

Labelled “woeful” in the first half by their own coaching staff, a rejuvenated Bathurst City side took control of the opening exchanges of the second period, with Kris Grant sliding one past Wanderers goalkeeper Daryl Kennewell.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it was disallowed.

But it only took Bathurst City five more minutes to turn their momentum into a goal, when Kyle Reardon banged one home. 

But Connor Morris scored two minutes later to give Wanderers a 3-1 lead, and ultimately the win.

“It was disappointing to concede straight after scoring,” Bathurst City coach Kevin Sherman said.

“The second half was a lot better, we had our chances to come back on them but it’s just our basic stuff letting us done a bit.

“We’re panicking a bit when we get the ball, but we’re still a very young side. We were hoping today would’ve been one win to end the season on a high with, but it didn’t work out.”

ORANGE WANDERERS 3 (Luke Skelton, Matt Johnson, Connor Morris) def BATHURST CITY 1 (Kyle Reardon)