The Dubbo Blue Jays stuck it to women's Premier League Hockey powerhouse Lithgow Panthers on Saturday but went down by a solitary goal at the Parkes gala day.

Lithgow's Katie Hamment struck the only goal of the match as Dubbo goalkeeper Michelle Courtney produced a brilliant display to keep her side in the match.

"We held strong," Dubbo's Kate Corcoran said.

"It was a tough game and we always knew it would be but Michelle Courtney was superb under pressure all through the game."

The loss doesn't affect the Blue Jays spot on the ladder and they remain in sixth.

Saturday was a huge day of action at Parkes, with all PLH teams involved in a gala day, and Dubbo took on competition leaders Lithgow in the second match of the day.

Against the powerful and physical Panthers team the youthful Blue Jays held their own and produced chances to score goals of their own with Kendall McDonagh going close.

But it was the backline which impressed the most with captain Aimee Davis producing another inspirational performance at the heart of the defence.

With the likes of leading strikers Alex Waters and Tarlee Roberts, as well as Emma Corcoran and Zoe Warwick, unavailable the Blue Jays went in as massive underdogs.

Corcoran said the performance of the young Blue Jays midfield on Saturday was another positive for the club.

"The midfield held strong, Bree (Bloink Hollier), Phoebe (Bloink Hollier), Courtney (Hogan) and Emily (Lake) marked well and fed the forwards," she said.

Coach Craig Johnston was also not in attendance as he was away with the Over-45s Masters hockey team in Newcastle, where he and his Dubbo teammates made the semi-finals.

While proud of his side's efforts the coach admitted it was coming into the make-or-break time in the season.

The run home is a near-perfect one for the Blue Jays with seven of their final eight matches at home at Pioneer Park.

"We've got the bye this weekend and then finally back at home and we've got to turn those games into points," he said.

"We can't really afford to lose any of those, it could be our season, because we're kind of hanging on at the moment.

"We need to convert a few of those games, I think 30 points will get us a finals berth so we need about five wins."