STARTING a new season with a defeat, especially against a local rival, is never an ideal outcome, yet Bathurst Souths coach Kent Betswick found it hard to be too disappointed following Saturday's 3-1 men's Premier League Hockey loss to Bathurst St Pat's.
While there have been some small personnel changes in both outfits between seasons, the Bathurst sides were expected to be evenly matched in Saturday's season opener at the Cooke Hockey Complex.
Having had the better of St Pat's on their way to finishing as the 2013 runners-up, Souths made a good start as they were the first to score after 21 minutes of play.
But by half-time the game was locked a one goal apiece and in the second stanza the two blues were made to pay for infringements.
At one stage with two players sitting in the dug-out after yellow cards, Pat's earned a penalty corner and found the mark via Duncan McPhee. The blue and whites then sealed victory with six seconds left on the clock.
"I think it was always going to be tight, I put that down as a trial game really because both teams hadn't played anyone before this," Bestwick said.
"I wouldn't put it down to fitness, we lost three guys to yellow cards in the second half so 11 on nine makes it a bit tough and we were at least one short for a 15-minute period. We have just got to learn to be a bit more disciplined and stay on the field."
REPORT: ST PAT'S BOYS DRAW FIRST BLOOD
The Saints earned nine penalty corners across the second half while Souths were unable to give themselves a scoring chance via the set play. The count after the first 35 minutes had been 4-all.
While only one of Pat's goals came from those nine penalty corners, Matthew Naylor twice struck the post and Souths goalkeeper John Rudge was required to save others.
Yet Bestwick looked on that as a positive in terms of the defensive performance. Souths did have some good moments at the back, Rudge making a one-on-one block in the first half to stop Riley Hanrahan and a stick save not long after when Brodie Cooke tried to sneak the ball past him.
Jack Bright produced a good block from a Naylor drag-flick while Adam Campbell also made a handful of solid tackles inside the circle.
"First game back we have still got to work on some things. They got three goals so credit to them, but we kept a fair few out from penalty corners, so that was a positive for us," Betswick said.
"We know the areas we need to work on now, our last game was September last year so it was a fairly big break. We have only got a short season again, so we have got to pick it up quickly.
"We have got five players on the bench that are all forwards, so I have to work out a few things with the bench. But the positives outweighed the negatives which is what I wanted, I am not too worried about it, we'll bounce back. You don't win grand finals in April."
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