The two Bathurst clubs have a history of hard, close fought encounters with eight of their last 10 meetings decided by two goals or less. 

Earlier this season they played out a 3-all draw, Souths scoring all of its goals in the final five minutes of the contest.

It is a result which hurt St Pat’s at the time, but coach Jaden Ekert said his players have learned from that.

“It was a really good learning curve for the girls, to say that we haven’t done that since is a good thing,” he said.

“I think it has already proved to be a turning point for us in terms of our match awareness, where we need to be in terms of reading a game. I mean 3-0 up with five minutes to go, we need to hold the ball, possess the ball, don’t rush instead of trying to punch two or three more goals in and pushing everyone forward.

“I’m glad it happened when it did and not three weeks out from the finals.”

Since that result the Saints have strung together four wins and a draw to hold the outright competition lead. Though there are still five rounds remaining before the finals, Ekert makes no secret of the fact he wants to remain on top.

“They are very grounded the girls, which is excellent. When they heard we were first on the table they were happy, but they also knew it means nothing if we don’t hold on to it,” the coach said.

“It’s good to be there, great to be there, but if we don’t stay there then all the hard work we’ve done over the last six weeks to get ourselves back to where we should be can pretty much be cancelled.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position and we need to consolidate it.

“You’ve still got to turn up, you’ve still got to put the ball in the net, you’ve still got to do your job. If we don’t do those three things come Saturday we could be facing another tough local derby.

“Souths have got their finals to play for, they are four points outside the top four, so they’ve got everything to play for … everything bar the kitchen sink is going to get thrown into this game.”

While that 3-all draw has inspired the Saints, experienced Souths talent Mandy George knows it is something her team-mates can draw on as well.

“Last time we played Pat’s they were up 3-0 for a majority of the game, but we just played hockey as such. We took our opportunities when they came, we made sure our defence was strong and in those last five minutes we got three in,” she said.

“In hockey a lot of the time a 3-0 deficit is something that you don’t come back from or believe you can come back from. But we just did our job and kept doing what we had been doing.

“Going forward for us, we need to make sure we are getting the results and keep playing the hockey we have been playing. Other than that one game against CYMS [5-1 loss], we’ve been in with a shot in every other game and that gives us the self belief to keep going.”

George has played in more Bathurst derbies against Pat’s than she would care to count and has developed a healthy respect for the Saints. But at the same time, she also sees the potential within this year’s Souths side.

“They’ve got a couple of new players this year, but the core group of that team, you know they are smart hockey players, they are incredibly skilful and there is still a lot of pace in that team as well,” she said.

“You know you’ve got to bring your A game to be able to match it.

“But we have shown we can match it with, if not overcome, some of the better teams. I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey yet either … the talent we have got within our young girls, I’m super impressed with them.”

Saturday’s match between Souths and Pat’s will start at 1.50pm at Bob Roach Field.