Bathurst High School girls soccer captain Poppy Channing scores two cracking goals in 3-1 Astley Cup win

Two vastly different but equally stunning goals from the Bathurst High captain led the team to a vital 3-1 win at Proctor Park to keep the school's hopes alive in the tie ahead of the boys soccer clash.

The pressure was high on the Bathurst squad heading into the match after the school's athletics team went down heavily.

Bathurst had to fight their way back from an early deficit after a stroke of misfortune saw the team go down a goal after just four minutes, but the hosts started to gain the bigger share of possession and scoring opportunities.

Channing showcased her dribbling skills by beating a number of Orange defenders and finding the mark for an excellent solo goal in the 17^th minute.

When the teams came out for the second half with the scores locked at 1-all it didn't take long for Bathurst to start asserting their dominance.

After a string of scoring chances Bathurst finally got one into the back of the net when Channing fired a long range effort over the Orange keeper for the go-ahead goal midway through the half.

Bathurst secured the result less than three minutes out from full-time when Jasmine Mitchell pounced on a deflected ball at the top of the Orange penalty area and put the shot away.

Channing said the team were fired up after finding themselves down 1-0 early into the game.

"After that first goal we came firing back," she said.

"We knew what we had to do and we did our jobs. I couldn't be happier.

"It was a hard game because the field felt so big, and our team was really spread out, but we made the most the most of it."

Around 10 minutes into the game Channing fired a firm shot towards the Orange goal from inside the penalty area but a defender got in the path of the ball just in time.

She wasn't going to be denied on her next chance near the goal.

"I told myself I needed to get as many shots as I could,"

"On that first goal everyone just told me to take it myself, so I did that, and the second one was probably the best goals I've scored I reckon. It was amazing.

"I tried to celebrate with a backflip but I messed that up a little bit," she laughed.

While Channing might have left her celebratory backflip slightly short her leadership certainly didn't miss the mark, earning the team's most valuable player award for her efforts.

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