BATHURST High School will head into their Astley Cup tie against Orange today, hopeful of salvaging some success in the 2008 competition, which Dubbo Senior College has dominated.

With Dubbo already securing the cup with wins against Bathurst 443-357, and Orange 491.5-308.5, the final tie looms as an opportunity for either school to record a win in this year’s competition.

It also gives Bathurst a chance to make up for their narrow loss to Orange last year.

Although Bathurst managed to win five of the eight sports 12 months ago, they were only by small margins, and Orange were able to secure more points in their

three wins.

This meant that Bathurst went down to Orange 388-412.

Bathurst High PE co-ordinator, Darren Hamilton, is aware that they will face a tough encounter when they travel to Orange tomorrow, with all but two events to be played on the school grounds. However, he is confident that they can come up with a win.

“We should do well compared to how we went against Dubbo in athletics, girls football and rugby league, depending on how they [Orange] back up from last week,” Mr Hamilton said.

It is expected that Bathurst will hold a narrow advantage in both the boys and girls soccer, after impressive wins against Dubbo, compared with Orange who were hammered 4-0 in the boys event before the girls managed to hang on for a 3-all draw.

They are also tipped to perform well in athletics after managing to come up with a surprise 20 point victory over Dubbo, who in turn convincingly beat Orange by 41 points.

While there are areas where Bathurst are expected to dominate, Hamilton said they would be out to improve across the board in all sports.

“We are looking to improve in hockey, but we are also looking for an improvement in all sports, but it is difficult with town sports also running,” he said.

“All teams are fairly dynamic and even if we don’t know what team is going to take the field due to injuries, they usually step up for the Astley Cup.

“There is certainly a lot of pride going into this week’s games, and we are expecting to hopefully get a win against Orange.”