HOCKEY
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NORMALLY a side who is denied full points for the first time in more than a season might look at their performance and wonder what went wrong with a mix of shock and disbelief.
Not St Pat’s.
The men’s Premier League Hockey reigning premiers were held to a 1-all draw in their last match a fortnight ago against Lithgow Zig Zag.
It was the first time, aside from a loss in round one that was a result of a player registration error, that they have failed to win a match since the 2014 grand final.
At the time coach John Ninness was calm about the result and refused to panic. It was understandable given how incredibly strong the Saints have been since the start of last season.
His attitude was reflected by senior player Shane Conroy in the lead-up to today’s game against the tough Parkes outfit.
“We weren’t so much disappointed by the fact that we dropped a few points by having a draw, we were just a bit annoyed with the fundamental errors in our game,” he said.
“We had a few injuries during the match itself, Jaden Ekert did his hamstring and he’s still unavailable going into this week. So it probably just wasn’t our day.
“Before and after the game we discussed the fact that they [Zig Zag] are a pretty good side, so it was no disgrace to be held to a draw. We were just a bit disappointed with some of the things we did during the game.”
Parkes are another side, along with Zig Zag, Souths and Orange, who are vying to prove that they can challenge the established powerhouses in St Pat’s and Lithgow Panthers.
Two weeks ago Parkes fought out a 1-all stalemate themselves against Souths.
On one hand they were desperately unlucky not to get a win, as a Dan Carter goal with six seconds to play got the two blues a share of the points.
On the flip side, Souths had countless chances all the way through the game to at least level up, if not go well ahead.
“You never know with Parkes, they are a team of unknowns because their line-up changes all the time. They can play some great hockey when they’re all on deck and ready to go,” Conroy said.
“I watched a bit of that game against Souths and have spoken to one or two of their players. They reckon they [Parkes] were a bit lucky to get a draw even despite the fact that they were winning for most of the game.
“It should be a good, close contest this week.”
Conroy and his team-mates will be hoping that former Saint and current Parkes player Regan Hotham will be recovered from an injury in time to take his place on the field.
Pat’s host Parkes at Bob Roach Field from 3.20pm.