Pat's went down 36-10 to the Oberon Tigers at Jack Arrow Sporting Complex on Saturday, recording a third straight Group 10 premier league defeat after what had been a promising start to the season.

The Saints were held scoreless in the first half, entering the break down 18-0, and while they managed to pick up their intensity in the new half they couldn't stop a Tigers team on a tear.

The result sent Pat's from fifth to seventh on the ladder, leapt by both the Tigers and Orange CYMS.

Tigers regathered from the previous round's tough two-point defeat to a high flying Orange Hawks side and put on a first half clinic against the Saints.

Saturday's result will go a long way towards making teams pay attention to the Tigers, given the Hawks would go on to find a win over top placed Bathurst Panthers.

For player-coach Josh Starling it's now about trying to bring out a similar quality of football more often.

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"We started well, which is something we haven't done all year," he said.

"Everyone responded really well at training and that's the sort of game I expect from them every week. It was great to see it on the park.

"If you're not willing to do any of the hard stuff then you're not going to win. I know we've been playing some good teams but we've been right in every game.

"We've lost by six, four and two but it's not acceptable. If we're getting that close then we've got to be winning games."

Tigers took control on both the offensive and defensive end in the opening half, running in three tries while keeping the hosts off the scoreboard.

Pat's found their breakthrough early in the second half which threatened to put a stop to the Tigers' momentum.

It didn't.

From the 50^th minute onward the Tigers went back into their rhythm to pull away from the Saints.

Their run was only stopped by a late Saints try, one which would only be a consolation for the blue and white.

"Jackson Brien's kick returns were great. Everyone who plays against him knows how hard he runs," Starling said.

"Richie Peckham has been outstanding all year. It's just another great game from him. Our halves controlled the game so well.

"I spoke to them during the week about finding their voice and they definitely did that."

St Pat's president Dave Chapman is confident the top grade men can get back on track.

"We didn't help ourselves with some fundamental mistakes which led to try but that being said I was proud of the defensive efforts from our guys. There were continual repeat sets of six in the first half and we repelled those raids," he said.

"We could have been down by 30 at half-time, to be honest.

"Credit goes to Oberon. We just have to regroup at training. Not having guys like Luke Branighan out there to steer the ship hurts, and the go-forward of someone like Zac Merritt is something we're really missing at the moment."