The 2022 West Central West HART Regional League took place over two weekends with 8 teams from around the West Central West region competing for the West Central West Title.
The first weekend of the HART Regional League competition took place at Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium the 8 teams went head-to-head against one another in a total of 20 games across 5 rounds.
Orange PCYC hosted the final weekend of the HART Regional League West Central West region. Two minor rounds were played before 7 teams were split into 2 divisions based on their ladder ranking following minor rounds.
In Division 2, unfortunately Mudgee was unable to continue through to the finals and therefore finals placings were to be determined by first past the post, which saw Dubbo 2, Forbes and Lithgow playing each other once on the final day.
In the first match Dubbo 2 powered away with a strong start and did not let up, defeating Forbes 33-21.
In the second Division 2 match it was battled out between Lithgow and Dubbo 2. Although Lithgow put up a good performance and fight, Dubbo 2 drew a little further away each quarter leading them to win 44-22.
For Division 2, the last match was between Forbes and Lithgow as a well fought game amongst both teams. Forbes went out strong in the first quarter with Lithgow fighting back hard to close the gap in the second quarter to 15 – 15 Forbes way, but it was enough, Forbes came away with the win 46 – 25.
Dubbo Team 2 held out winners sitting top of the ladder with the winners, Forbes coming in as Runners up and Lithgow placing 3rd
Division 1 saw Orange remain undefeated throughout the 2 days of finishing top of the ladder in minor rounds. Bathurst team 1 followed close behind losing only 1 match in the minor rounds, followed by Bathurst team 2 and Dubbo team 1 rounding out the top four teams headed into the final’s series.
The first semi-final match up was between Orange and Dubbo 2. By the end of the first quarter it was anyone’s game with a 10 all draw. Although Dubbo 2 put up a good fight, Orange pulled a little further away each quarter leading them to a win of 56-35 taking them to the Grand Final. The second semi-final match saw the two Bathurst teams go head-to-head, fighting for their spot in the Grand Final. Only one team could come out victorious with Bathurst ?? taking the win by an astonishing 20 goals.
In the 3rd place play-off for Division 1, there was a classic case of turning good defence into scoring opportunities for both teams. Dubbo 1 took the lead early on and held strong leading to a massive 62 - 29 win over Bathurst 2.
In the Division 1 Grand Final, Orange proved why they went through undefeated with a big lead from the first quarter and extending the lead to winning the match 61-32. In front of a home crowd the final result saw Orange remain undefeated and becoming the West Central West HART Regional League Champions for 2022, with Bathurst 1 coming in as Runners Up
HART Regional League is also not possible without the team of dedicated umpires officiating matches over the weekend, thank you to all the team in white and a special thank you to the Umpire Allocators Michael Rudd, Shelly Hutchinson and Michelle Ensor who worked with the umpires throughout the competition.
West Central West HART Regional League Coaches also had the opportunity to access invaluable mentoring during the first week, thank you to Heather Smith, who was on hand to offer assistance to Coaches.
