REIGNING premiers St Pat’s will put their unbeaten 2011 men’s Premier League status on the line today when they travel to Parkes for what should be a cracking round three match against the United outfit.
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Parkes United themselves are yet to record a loss in the season so far and are coming off an impressive 3-1 win over Lithgow Panthers last Saturday.
On paper at least, today’s match will provide the biggest test yet of Brad Fulton’s team’s credentials for the remainder of the season.
“They are obviously travelling really well and coming off a big win last week over there so hopefully when we get to Parkes we find out most of their players have night-shift out at the mines or something,” Fulton joked.
“Parkes did have some very talented young kids out there a few years ago and as it shows they have come through and turned into good players.
“The merger of the two Parkes sides at the end of last year has certainly made them stronger as well.”
After the Pat’s 3-0 win over Bloomfield, Fulton said that the win was far less convincing than it perhaps should have been and raised questions about the levels of motivation in his team.
A tough away test against a strong side should show him definitively whether his concerns are legitimate or not.
“We are yet to really show our enthusiasm on the field, we had a run on Tuesday night and everyone showed up and worked well, Thursday nights we are usually a bit more serious,” he said.
“We want to get there on game day and show that we are in form and motivated, I don’t want the players getting there and thinking that they are just going to go out and get it done, and all of a sudden finding themselves in a real scrap.
“We should get Kel Cooke back this week which will certainly strengthen us.
“Ideally I would like to see us start really strongly and get a winning lead as quickly as we can, and give our bench a good solid run because to me at the moment one thing we probably lack is a bit of depth.”
Meanwhile the St Pat’s women will join their male counterparts on the road to Parkes as they look to cement their top-three spot against the winless home side.
Daniel Casey’s team have struggled in the last three weeks after a strong initial burst to open the competition, drawing with Souths and Kinross-CYMS and securing a last-gasp win over Cougars.
Casey pointed out quite correctly after last Sunday’s draw with Kinross-CYMS that to be sitting in third despite being well below their best so far is a positive sign.
He will be looking for a powerful performance against Parkes to show that they have not lost their edge.
“We can’t go over thinking we are just going to rock up and smash them, I want the girls to approach the match like they [Parkes] are on top of the table,” Casey said.
“I think we are just one game away. Firstly from this week, I just want us to make sure we get the win but to get up by two or three would be nice.
“I really don’t know why but we just have not clicked in front of goal. We aren’t playing bad hockey at all but the goal-scoring hasn’t been working. A decent win this weekend would be a big lift and get us back on track I think.”
Pat’s will be close to full strength with only Kirralee Naylor and Hannah Heiner out of action though defensive lynchpin Bec Clayton is still not a confirmed starter.
