AFTER a slow start on Thursday, Orange High School has hit back to have one hand on the Astley Cup trophy heading into day two.
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Orange took the momentum into the opening day of its tie against Bathurst, after defeating Dubbo College last week.
But it was Bathurst who won the first event of the day, a 64-49 win (57-43 point split) in the basketball at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium, and followed that up with a thrilling 41-all (50-50) draw in the netball.
Orange has long dominated netball, but the Bathurst players and fans celebrated the draw as if it was a win.
Trailing 107-93 in the overall points, Orange needed to hit back and they did so in the rugby league, winning a gruelling contest 24-16 (60-40) at Carrington Park.
Orange would carry on its momentum into the hockey, with a comprehensive 3-0 smashing of Bathurst at the Cooke Hockey Complex.
That result did the most damage for Bathurst's hopes, Orange claiming an 80-20 point split.
It gives Orange a 233-167 heading into day two.
Bathurst High Campus Astley Cup coordinator Sarah Murray was happy with her school's performance after day one.
"We're really proud of how our kids went today," she said.
"It was a great start to get that win with the basketball and for the netball girls to have a draw with Orange, they haven't got that close to Orange ever. The girls were stoked.
"The footy was up and down and that might've been the weather and that 3-0 loss in the hockey, we tried to keep it close because Orange beat Dubbo 9-0 last week."
Murray is feeling confident that Bathurst can get the job done on Friday.
"We're feeling confident with the tennis, as we have Jeorge Collins, who is a bit of a tennis superstar," she said.
"We're also looking forward to the soccer in the afternoon, with the teams coached by Matt Baillie. They've been kind strong in the past.
"It's hard to tell with the athletics, because there's so much unknown."
Bathurst also beat Orange in the Mulvey Cup debating competition.
Action continues on Friday morning with the tennis at 9.15am.
This will be followed by athletics at 11.30am, before the attention turns to Proctor Park for the girls football at 12.45pm and lastly the boys football at 2.15pm.
Results from day one:
- BASKETBALL: Bathurst wins 64-49 (57-43)
- NETBALL: 41-all draw (50-50)
- RUGBY LEAGUE: Orange wins 24-16 (60-40)
- HOCKEY: Orange wins 3-0 (80-20)
- ORANGE LEADS 233-167
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