Parkes United Men's Premier League hockey side has again been forced to share the competition points following a late goal from the Orange Wanderers in Orange on Saturday afternoon, that ended 3-all.
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With striker Jack Elliot out due to injury, it was Andrew Bourke who stepped up for the visitors as he scored himself a double to lead the United attack.
United managed to sustain the pressure of the Wanderers outfit who came out firing and enjoyed the majority of possession early on.
The United side defended solidly across the park before starting to use their width and pace through the midfield to open the contest up.
It was the Wanderers, however, that opened the scoring after around 20 minutes of play when Alex Said converted a chance as the United defence switched off.
Parkes responded in the best way possible as they forced a short corner minutes later, which – despite Wanderers keeper Jacob Skelton stopping the initial shot – Bourke was on the spot to put the rebound away and level the scores just before the main break.
After the break the play continued to go from end to end before Hamish Orr broke the deadlock, following some good lead up work by the United midfield.
Wanderers equalised soon after as Caiden Reddan converted his first goal of the day with just under 20 minutes remaining.
United lifted as they searched for their first win of the season.
The game developed into a fiery contest, with both Regan Hotham of United and Adam Hurford of Wanderers earning green cards.
With 10 minutes remaining Wanderers were denied a short corner goal as the first shot was lifted, despite their protests.
Against the run of play, Bourke converted his second for the match just a minute later, following a good run by Orr.
Reddan, however equalised for Wanderers with five minutes to go to set up a tense finish before keeper Skelton pulled off a double save for Wanderers as United pushed for the victory.
Considering both sides can no longer make the 2017 top four and both are in the process of ushering in a younger generation, Saturday’s display would have been encouraging for both Parkes skipper Dan Wilson and Wanderers coach Mark Pengilly.
“We were hoping to snatch it at the end there but it was good to get one back,” Pengilly said.
“We sort of fell away from the game plan a bit, which is the frustrating side of it, but when the guys get it together they can play some good hockey.
“We’ve just got to do it for the full game and not patches of it.”
Wilson said Parkes was already looking towards 2018, despite wanting to finish the 2017 season off well.
“Certainly we did enough to win the match,” he said.
“However we can certainly take some of the positives away from the match as we head into our final match against the Panthers at home next Saturday.
"Again the young guys stepped up when they had to today and a special mention goes to Will Blunt, who was on debut in the goals,” Wilson said on Saturday afternoon.
“He was great in his first outing at this level, making a few key saves.”
Bourke was outstanding for United with his efforts picking up the Players Player, after scoring twice and posing a constant threat to the Wanderers defence.
Josh Kearney and Hamish Orr also featured in the votes.
Catch Parkes United as they play the Lithgow Panthers at home on Saturday at 1.30pm.
Orange Wanderers 3 (Caiden Reddan 2, Alex Said) drew Parkes United 3 (Andrew Bourke 2, Hamish Orr)
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