HOCKEY
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BATHURST City have jumped up into second place on the women's Premier League Hockey table thanks to Saturday's 5-0 win over Lithgow Zig Zag at Bob Roach Field.
Five different players got their name on the score sheet for City on the way to their fifth win of the season.
One of those was City's Casey Bayliss, who said the game was a great showcase for the team's junior talent.
"We've been struggling this season to fill a full strength side and put goals in the net. To be able to come out with the team we had today, with a lot of people out, and play the way we did was good," she said.
"It's great that we can pull some of these up-and-coming players from the bench and they can perform like that. It's great that we can get away a few goals like that and it's great to have that monkey off our back. It's taken a few weeks.
"We've got two weeks off now with the bye and the long weekend, so it's good to finish on that kind of a note. We can take two weeks to train hard and hopefully come back and score as many goals again."
City earned a pair of penalty corners in the opening four minutes of the match, but weren't able to convert either opportunity.
But that didn't discourage City, who continued to turn the screws on Zig Zag and 10 minutes in found the breakthrough via one of their junior talents Tirah Jarvis.
As the rain arrived 25 minutes into the game so too did the second goal for the hosts, courtesy of a skilful individual effort from Bayliss. She beat several defenders along the baseline before slotting home.
Zig Zag's best opportunity of the match to score came just 10 seconds before half-time with a penalty corner.
However, the resulting strike from Katie Wilkins was just left of the goal.
Wilkins then forced City substitute goalkeeper Tyler Mair into a good, low block just minutes into the second half.
Down the other end of the field moments later, Kelly Baker's shot from the top of the circle was deflected just over the crossbar.
Lithgow defender Tracey Baker was then taken from the field with a head cut, the injury caused by friendly fire from her goalkeeper.
Following the halt in play it was business as usual for City who struck twice in four minutes.
Kelsey Willott built upon her already strong match by adding a goal to her name before 16-year-old Emma Oxley scored her second goal in as many weeks with a well-placed reverse stick shot into the bottom right of the Lithgow goal.
Seven minutes before full-time, Baker finished off a good link up play between Oxley and Willott to see City emerge 5-0 victors.
BATHURST CITY 5 (Tirah Jarvis, Casey Bayliss, Kelsey Willott, Emma Oxley, Kelly Baker) defeated LITHGOW ZIG ZAG 0