WIN the 50-50 challenges and capitalise on circle penetrations - that will be the mission for St Pat's this Saturday as it looks to qualify for the final of the inaugural Premier League Hockey Ben Hagney Electrical men's nines.
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A new five-round pre-season competition this year which sees teams battle in a nine-a-side format, the Saints drew both fixtures on the opening Saturday of play.
But importantly the Saints improved from their 2-all draw against Wanderers to when they finished at four goals apiece against Lithgow Panthers.
"It was a couple of wins that probably got away from us to be honest, we created enough opportunities in both games, but we just didn't put them away," Saints' Shane Conroy said.
"Game one felt very fast-paced, very frantic where game two we took our time and controlled the ball a little bit better and stuck to our structures that we'd talked about. It was definitely a massive improvement from game one to game two."
READ MORE: Returning players boost Souths' defence
The blue and whites will require further improvement this Saturday when meeting Lithgow Zig Zag in Orange at 1.30pm.
Despite having just eight players in the one match it has played thus far, Zig Zag still notched up an 11-5 win over Parkes. Conroy umpired that game and has an idea of what to expect in their third round meeting.
"They did what Ziggies do best, pick up all the 50-50 balls. They just put a high forward in front and played strong defensive hockey and caught them on the counter a few times," he said.
"We need to be in the battle, win those 50-50 balls, put away our opportunities and shut down their runaways.
"We need a win if we want to finish in that top two and try and get a bit of cash in the end. Not just that, if we can play in that final it will give us a lot of confidence going through for the season's start.
"With the young team we have, that confidence would outweigh the prize money in the end, it would be good for us."
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