Workies Panthers put a bigger gap over the rest Country Energy Western Premier League hockey field when they defeated fellow Lithgow club Zig Zag in the “Rivalry Round”.

The round is designed to see teams play local derbies in their respective cities and at Lithgow it was a very intense match that saw Ziggies, although going down 5-3, put in one of their best efforts against Workies Panthers.

Played in front of a good crowd, it was a hot start by both sides with goals coming thick and fast.

It was a very physical match with the umpires having their work cut out keeping the game in check.

Workies Panthers’ Travis Cameron opened the scoring with a quick fire goal in the fifth minute and then followed up with another Travis Special three minutes later to give his side a 2-0 lead after eight minutes.

Zig Zag regathered their composure and a minute later Jake Shirt scored a great individual goal off a back stick to get his side back in the match at 2-1.

The goals kept coming with Workies Panthers immediately retaliating seconds later with a rocket-like shot off a short corner by Gavin McKenzie to push the score along to 3-1.

The goals dried up for the rest of the first half with both sides having a couple of good chances, but the defence of goalies Mitch Britton (Panthers) and Luke Thurtell (Ziggies) made sure that there would be no addition to the score line.

Just after halftime, the inform Michael Charlton, who has been in great scoring form in recent weeks, made it 4-1 and it looked as if Workies Panthers were going to run away with the game when Jarrod Cameron scored to give them a good lead of 5-1.

Zig Zag, who had shown plenty of grit and determination for most of the match, finished in a flurry with two goals to Brett Baker.

Zig Zag’s last goal came with only five minutes to go, but an injury to star Ben Kelly saw the clock tick down and time run out to give the Panthers a 5-3 win.

Kelly had a clash of heads with his own goalie leaving him very groggy.

Workies Panthers Raine and Horne best and fairest points went to BJ Hemmy who never seems to turn in a sub standard match.

He also picked up the Man of the Match award for his efforts.

Two points went to Matt Banning and one to Gav McKenzie with the pair solid as ever at the back.

The RGN Mining coach’s award went to Travis Cameron.

It was a good team effort with the Panthers appreciating the tough match that Zig Zag served up.

Ziggies also had a number of good performers, none better than captain coach Brett Baker who turned in a non-stop display and once again showed he is one of the best players in the district.

Ben Kelly, Jake Shirt, Ben Redding and Adam Gill also had big games.

Ziggies thank Club Lithgow for their ongoing support.

This weekend the Panthers take on the Parkes Redbacks at Parkes while Zig Zag will take on Dubbo at home at 1.30 pm on Saturday.