HOCKEY
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ST PAT’S ensured they will finish as minor premiers of the 2014 men’s Premier League Hockey season thanks to a convincing 6-2 over the Lithgow Panthers on Saturday at the Cooke Hockey Complex.
The Saints went into the match holding down first place on the competition ladder over the Panthers and after beating the Lithgow outfit for the second time this season, no-one can dislodge the blue and whites with one round remaining.
The previous meeting was a goal-fest that ended in an 8-5 win for Pat’s on the Panthers’ turf, but this time the Saints lifted their defensive efforts.
They did not concede in the final half of the match after holding a 3-2 lead at the break.
Comparing the Saints’ performance from when they met Panthers three weeks earlier, Pat’s captain Shane Conroy said Saturday’s top-of-the-table game was an improvement.
“Our defence really stepped up a lot today. That’s something that we’ve been talking about, shutting them down a lot more. We started off slow, they scored first but we consistently kept coming back,” he said.
“Four of our goals came from penalty corners and it’s nice to see us putting away our chances, especially in a game where Matt Naylor was away. The result shows the depth that we’ve got in this team ... a lot of these younger guys have come a long way in just 12 to 18 months.
“We go into every game with a game plan. This was a different one to what we used last time, but it paid off for us. We’ve got a team with good hockey heads and every game we’re able to make these changes and we can adapt.”
Pat’s and Panthers traded goals to start off before to home side pushed out to a 3-1 advantage close to half-time.
However, Panthers got a boost when they found the back of the net shortly before the break.
But from that point on it was one-way traffic as Saints coach Jaden Ekert scored a second-half hat-trick.
Pat’s have now scored 87 goals in 14 games, averaging over six a match. It is a record they will look to carry into the finals, the Saints set to host the Panthers in the first grand final qualifier in a fortnight.
ST PAT’S 6 (Jaden Ekert 3, Shane Conroy 2, Tobbie Muldoon) defeated LITHGOW PANTHERS 2