Leading 12-nil at half-time thanks to a first half brace from centre Emily Rhynehart, St Pat's was forced to produce an inspired defensive effort to hold off a Panthers side which dominated possession in the second period.

But, as St Pat's coach Mick Armstrong said amid his players' wild celebrations, the Saints held firm to claim a 10-point victory.

St Pat's win avenged their grand final loss to Panthers 12 months earlier as well, and stopped the women in black from claiming a third straight title.

"Our start wasn't the best but the girls did their best to get back into the game, and they did that with a couple of tries in the first half which set the platform for some good defence in the second half, and lucky enough we held them out long enough to win," Armstrong said.

VIDEO: What the coaches had to say after full time:

"To only have one try scored by Panthers was a really good effort in defence ... I think that really set the [tone] for the win."

Both teams contracted a severe case of the grand final dropsies in the early stages, with neither side completing a set without a mistake for the opening 10 minutes.

St Pat's kicked into gear in the 12th minute though when skipper Mish Somers put up a ginormous torpedo bomb, and won a repeat set when it was spilled.

Rhynehart went over in the left corner from the resulting set, and Somers promptly nailed the sideline conversion to take a 6-nil lead.

Six minutes later, St Pat's fullback Liv Patterson put Rhynehart over in the corner and again, channelling Bulldogs' kicking-extraordinaire Daryl Halligan, Somers slotted the sideline conversion to give her side a 12-nil lead, which they took into half-time.

VIDEO: The Bathurst St Pat's girls celebrate in style:

After the break Panthers did their best to get back in the game, but, crucially, the Saints shut down every one of the Panthers' seven second half line breaks.

With 10 minutes to go Somers nailed a penalty goal from straight in front, moving her side to more than two converted tries in front, before Panthers fullback Amy Hewitt scored a consolation try in the dying stages.

"Everyone stood up today, and did their job which is all they had to do," Armstrong said.

"There's a little bit of disappointment there but at the end of the day St Pat's were too good for us," Panthers coach Dave Elvy said.

"That was only our fourth loss in three years. At some stage you have to lose, you can't win them all the time. I can't knock our effort, it's just the other team were too good on the day."

BATHURST ST PAT'S 14 (Emily Rhynehart 2 tries; Mish Somers 2 goals, penalty) def BATHURST PANTHERS 4 (Amy Hewitt try)