After two losses in the opening two rounds, if anyone had of asked Parkes United if they would take a 2-all draw with defending mens Western Premier League champions Lithgow Panthers they would have gladly taken a share of the points.
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However, after leading 2-0 with 15 minutes remaining and finishing at 2-all, United left Stephen Davies Field the less happy side.
“We are definitely disappointed with the result after being in control for the majority of the game,” United captain Dan Wilson said.
“After we went 2-0 up, we basically switched off and started to let them control the midfield corridor.
“Against quality teams you can’t afford to do that and they showed their class with those two late goals.
“We needed to stick to what we had done for the first 65 minutes.
“It is two weeks on the trot where late goals have cost us points and we need to close out those tight games.
“We could have put the game beyond doubt earlier when we had chances to score but whether it was a missed trap or a stray shot, things didn't go our way,” he said.
United started strongly and controlled possession for the majority of the first half, forcing Panthers to look for the longer pass.
The home side created a few good opportunities only to be left frustrated by Panthers goalkeeper Mitch Britton making a number of good saves to keep his side in the game.
Pete Amor managed to finally beat the Lithgow stopper after good lead up work by Andrew Bourke down the right wing found Amor on the seven yard spot.
Amor calmly slotted the ball in the net to give the home side a 1- 0 lead with 15 minutes to go in the first half.
United continued to dominate possession up to half-time.
Panthers had not had a clear look at goal for the half with Ben Hawken and Tim Somers repelling the majority of their attacks and forcing the visitors to look long.
United came out after halftime and continued to dictate the tempo of the game through the midfield of Reg Hotham, Aaron Thorne and Pete Amor.
Mitch Ward managed to earn a few short corners down the right wing but unfortunately failed to get the ball out straight on a few.
Parkes finally converted their pressure into a goal when Britton made a save only for Brad Gardiner to be on the spot to put the follow up shot away to give Parkes a 2-0 buffer with 15 minutes to go.
It was at this stage when United fell into the same trap as the week before.
They started trying to defend the whole pitch and Panthers started to make some inroads in attack.
Hawken and Somers continued to be solid in defence and managed to hold the visitors out until with five minutes to go, Travis Cameron managed to get a one-on-one with Trent Thomson and finally put Panthers on the board.
As good sides do, Panthers lifted with the goal.
Their sustained pressure led to another goal after a midfield turnover found Cameron in the circle again to secure a share of the points.
Best for Parkes were Reg Hotham and Pete Amor in the midfield who controlled the game perfectly.
Tim Somers and Ben Hawken at the back did a great job defensively while Mitch Ward, in his first Premier League game, stood out up front
“While it is disappointing, we took steps in the right direction,” Wilson said.
“To hold the reigning premiers to a draw shows when we play our style of hockey we can compete with the best.
“Now it is about getting to training and starting to think about this week’s game,” he said.
