That the Saints managed to come away with a 3-2 win against a Parkes side Ekert feels is the “dark horse this year” after a slow first half makes the coach think about the potential of his squad.

It is a squad which sits in second place on the ladder – trailing leaders Bathurst City on goal difference – given it also defeated defending premiers Lithgow Panthers.

“It’s always good to win when you’re not playing your best because it shows how much you can do over 70 minutes,” Ekert said.

“After the Panthers game everyone started to talk about us – Pat’s beat Panthers – but at the end of the day we’ve got a squad of 20 and if we stick to our processes and do the right things, we are going to become the hunted instead of us hunting everyone else. That’s fine with me.”

One thing which Ekert does want his side to improve on from the Parkes match is maintaining focus after scoring a goal.

Parkes scored around a minute after Pat’s had taken a 2-1 lead, the coach saying it came on the back of errors from his side.

“After you score a goal, the next five minutes is crucial, it can determine how a game is going to fold out. If you make those two or three errors like we did, they got it back to 2-all off our own back,” Ekert said.

“Full credit, they kept applying the pressure to our defence and we kept turning the ball over. If you are going to do that, you will make it hard for yourself.”