For an example you need look no further back than Saturday's women's Premier League Hockey derby between Souths and Bathurst City.

The game featured nine short corners in total, a penalty stroke and a number of close calls for either side yet somehow the score board never ticked over once.

Souths coach Chris Stafford liked the way his team went about bringing the ball forward but said they lacked the finishing touch.

"I thought we had the better chance. Most of City's chances came from short corners, where I felt we penetrated the circle with a bit more pace and a few more options," he said.

"We had a lot of people away today and we had some young girls up front who did a great job at getting the ball in there. We had a lot of players out of position and some older players coming in to help us.

"We got put under the pump a lot but the girls stood up. There's players out there probably in positions they haven't found themselves in since juniors.

"We did well all over the park ... but just probably didn't make the most of our short corner opportunities."

City coach Lisa Quinn retained a positive outlook following the game.

"That was our chance to jump them on the ladder but at least they'll still be just two points ahead going into the next round," she said.

"We've been working our leading and that was something which worked well today. We just didn't put that ball in the net and [Souths goalkeeper] Kate Brown had a really good game, as usual."

City's Bridget Ellis and Souths' Sam Porter each had tricky chances to open the scoring in the first quarter but couldn't convert.

Souths won the possession battle over the last five minutes of the quarter, culminating in the first short corner of the game, but City dealt with it well.

City had their first short corner of the game several minutes into the second quarter, and although it was unsuccessful it started to turn momentum in their favour.

They found plenty of space during a string of attacks down the right wing and forced the Souths defence and goalkeeper Brown to work overtime.

The two blues had the chance to score against the run of play with a short corner inside the final minute of the half. The opportunity was blocked.

The match really began to open up in the third quarter, with tired bodies and misplaced passes creating a lot of counter attacking opportunities.

City's Erin Cobcroft had a look at goal six minutes into the term but made a selfless decision to pass - a pass swiftly cut off by the defence.

Quinn had her first chance of the match just a moment later but her off balance shot went right of the target.

The City coach then had an even better chance to put her side ahead when an illegal block of an on-target shot by Souths gave her a penalty stroke.

However, Quinn didn't get enough power behind her effort and Brown was able to kick the ball away.

Porter had Souths' best chance of the period to score when her side brought the ball up from a blocked short corner but the striker was dispossessed at the top of the circle.

City continued to turn the screws on their opponent's defence over the last quarter.

Brown was forced into a strong save during an early short corner and on two occasions City's Jess Gardner was left open by the Souths defence but she failed to latch onto Kelly Baker's passes.

Souths then survived three short corners in the space of five minutes to keep the game scoreless.