Round 4: The Orange/Forbes Swamp Tigers and the Bathurst Giants each caused an upset in Round 4 of the Central West AFL junior season. The Swamp Tigers under 12s got one back over Bathurst, while the Giants handed the Orange/Forbes 14s their first loss of the year with a five-point win at Orange.
In the under 12s Bathurst kicked the first three goals, and was leading by 20 points, but in the second term the Swamp Tigers kicked seven goals to none to take a 30-point margin into half-time, and took the win 8.5 (53) to 4.5 (29).
The 14s was a tale of four quarters, with the first three quarters dominated by the Bathurst Giants. The Giant’s looked like they had it leading by 38 points, but the Swamp Tigers scored five goals. They had the momentum but not enough time and fell five agonising points short going down 6.7 (43) to 5.8 (38).
Round 5: Orange/Forbes under 12s and 14s both took home dominant 54-point and 78-point wins over Dubbo in Orange on Sunday. Dubbo led for the first few minutes in the under 12s match, but the Swamp Tigers showed determined defence with their established attacking flair with three majors in the first quarter, followed by three more goals in the second. Dubbo clawed back to within 35 points in the third quarter but Orange/Forbes kicked away again in the last quarter to take a 10.8 (68) and 2.2 (14) win.
The Orange/Forbes under 14s were even more impressive. Cayden Metzeling had a field day kicking eight as the Swamp Tigers endeavoured to make sure things were over quickly. They kicking four goals in the first quarter, and another three goals in the second to lead by 34 points at half time. Dubbo juniors kicked 19 points, but Orange/Forbes piled on another 41 points in the last quarter to win 16.8 (104) to 4.2 (26).
By Alex Milso