Kelso High School leads Bathurst High 8-4 after opening day of Denison Cup action

In the third edition of the annual event - which was introduced following the cancellation of the 2020 Astley and CKC Cups - Kelso made a big statement during the opening day of play.

Thursday's action saw the Years 9 and 10 girls and boys sides, along with staff netball teams from each school, take to the courts and fields.

Bathurst made a winning start to the day with their success in the boys' netball on their home court but Kelso were able to hit straight back by taking out the girls' match.

Over at Kelso High School the home side proved a cut above in the table tennis plus the girls and boys' volleyball matches.

The schools then split the boys (Bathurst) and girls (Kelso) league tag results, before Kelso really put the pressure on Bathurst by taking out both basketball matches.

Bathurst made sure the scoreline didn't get too far away from them by taking out both the boys and girls soccer matches, which were held at Kelso.

Bathurst High School's Denison Cup co-ordinator Sarah Murray said there were some cracking contests on the opening day.

"It was a good day for Kelso. Even though we didn't win as many sports as we would have liked, there were a lot of close games that could have gone either way," she said.

"The boys basketball went down to just a couple of points at the end of the game, and the boys' volleyball at Kelso this morning was tied up in the final set at 25-all.

"In the soccer Kelso had to bring a couple of players up from Year 7 and 8 while we have some experienced players in our team, so those results were quite good to see."

The big day for Kelso was rounded out with success in the staff netball game.

"There was lots of chat before the game between the two schools," Murray laughed.

"Kelso got the win. It was frustrating, but it was good fun. We're really looking forward to hitting the volleyball court tomorrow at Kelso High, and hopefully we can get a win there.

"I think the kids really enjoyed coming along to watch the staff play, to cheer on the people who are normally cheering them on."

Now it's the turn of the Years 7 and 8 teams, who will take part in the same sports during Friday's play.

Friday's action also includes chess, the Kel Cooke Cup hockey match and the under 15s Twenty20 cricket games, which both get underway from 10am.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: