HOCKEY
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IT is no secret that St Pat’s and Lithgow Panthers have developed a fierce rivalry in the men’s Premier League Hockey competition in recent seasons, but today’s major semi-final at the Cooke Hockey Complex should see the competitive nature of both sides further intensify.
It is due to the fact the victor will earn a home ground grand final.
It will be the third meeting the two teams have had in just over a month and it has been the Saints who have taken all the spoils thus far.
In both those wins Pat’s have finished with comfortable winning margins over the defending champions, an 8-5 result being followed up earlier this month by a 6-2 victory.
As indicated by those wins, Pat’s have been dominant so far this season with just a single loss to their name.
However, coach Jaden Ekert knows anything can change come finals time.
Last week showed the first wobbles for the Saints in recent times when they just got home over Parkes 8-7.
Ekert said he could understand the reasons for the unusual score given his side had already secured the minor premiership, but is out to make sure that nothing similar creeps into the Saints’ game during the finals.
“Complacency. Far too much complacency. We were 5-2 up with 20 minutes to go and that’s when we seemed to decide that that was enough,” he said.
“It’s not ideal, but on the other side of the coin I can see why it happened. There’s people out there who were obviously worried about potential injuries and were already more focused on this weekend.
“To still score eight goals though and not while playing our best hockey - and I know it’s obviously going to be different this week against Panthers – it was still good. The points system is all out the door now and there’s the right to that home grand final to play for.”
Even after getting past the Panthers twice, Pat’s will be up against a side who ended the regular season with the best defensive record.
A 2-1 loss to the Orange Wanderers is the only other blight on the Panthers’ books this season aide from the two losses to Pat’s.
Ekert said there won’t be much change from the methods used in the previous two encounters with Lithgow.
“We’ve got our game plan again and it’s one we’ve used before and it got them. Hopefully we can make it work again. It’s all going to depend on who can play when and how,” he said.
“We haven’t been focusing on anything in particular. There’s nothing left to fix in our game itself, it’s just the attitude.”
A full strength Pat’s side takes to the field at 1.50pm this afternoon.