A FIVE-try first half blitz helped St Pat's league tag outfit on the way to its 10th consecutive win of Group 10 season 2019, the blue and whites going on to down Bathurst Panthers 32-0 on Saturday morning.
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While competition-leading Saints have often been guilty of starting slowly this season, in the local derby at Jack Arrow Oval they played with intensity from the opening whistle.
It was skipper Mish Somers who opened scoring in the eighth minute and while the Panthers showed plenty of heart, once in front the Saints were never headed.
"We've been really slack in the first half this year, real slow, so that's probably the best first half we've played in ages," Somers said.
"It was probably a bit because of the derby, everyone likes to step up for that, but we've been working hard at training and really working on our defence.
"I think we put the pressure on there in defence and our attack flowed from there."
The Saints' first scoring chance of the match came in the fourth minute when Sarah Watterson streaked away down the left flank from a kick reception, but she was tagged just short of the line.
The following set Meredith Jones split Panthers' defence up the middle of the ruck - something she did a number of times during the contest - but was denied by good cover defence from Kaitlyn Phillips.
However, after Somers stepped her way through to score the Saints' opener, the points then quickly flowed.
A minute later talented Saints fullback Erin Naden scored off the back of a 40-metre run, while centre Paige Hay bagged a double before the break.
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Hay's first came off a fortuitous bounce from a Karah Armstrong in-field grubber, the second as she backed up a Jones break.
With 84 seconds on the clock left in the first stanza the Saints added another via a Bronte Emanuel intercept, that piece of individual brilliance making it 26-0.
In the second half Panthers rallied as the experienced Amy and Jess Hotham plus Monique Christie-Johnston both found space in attack and organised their team-mates in defence.
While they were unable to score - Christie-Johnston getting the closest as she was tagged inches short of the line by Naden - Panthers fared better in defence.
Pat's added just six points to their half time tally when five-eighth Emanuel broke away from deep in her own half to score under the sticks.
While the loss prevented Panthers from being able to climb back towards a top four spot, captain-coach Christie-Johnson was delighted with how her players responded to the Saints' opening half.
It is that sort of defensive mettle she hopes will see them turn things around in the second half of the season.
"We definitely had a slow first half, but we just went into the sheds and said we had to start again and work from nil-all whatever happens. I guess we've got to come away pretty happy with the fact that it was only 6-0 in the second half," she said.
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"I think in terms of the girls' defence we did really well in that second half, but guess we've just got ask a few more questions in attack.
"It's a credit to the girls because it could have been 50-0, but the girls, even though they were down by 20-odd going into that second half, they give me all the effort they had.
"it's a big second round of games of us, we obviously had a few upsets there in the first half of the year. We've just got to try and get a couple more wins under our belts so we can make those finals.
"If we can get in the finals, well anything can happen really."
