ST PAT'S coach Ben Weal knows some execution was missing from his side on Saturday, but after a 1-all draw he also knows that Parkes will be a threat in women's Premier League Hockey this season.
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Parkes has returned to the competition this year and the effort in beating last year's semi-finalists Confederates in round one was backed up with the performance against the Saints.
"They're a contender, very fast and quite organised in the midfield, so yeah, they'll be a threat I think," Weal said.
"They pushed real hard."
Pat's scored in the 20th minute when Millie Fulton used speed and deft touch to break into the circle then finish nicely in a one-on-one.
But one goal never looked like it was going to be enough given Parkes had plenty of their own speed in attack.
The Saints worked hard for another goal - they earned five penalty corners across the match - while in defence some strong tackling inside the circle from the likes of Lucy Weal, Carly Hagney and Amy Glen was a feature.
But the finishing touches in attack and precision when transitioning of the ball out of defence was not at its best.
"I think we made a few errors defensively as far as turnovers go, we threw balls to them rather than us," Weal said.
"We gave them the ball often in dangerous areas and we probably didn't capitalise on a few of those chances that we had.
"There was some desperate tackling, but then when we were getting the ball and getting it back out we were giving away turnovers.
"Our corners, we stepped away a little from what we spoke about, they didn't go to plan. But that happens in some games, they had bit of pressure on them and we couldn't pull them off."
The threat Parkes posed in attack was made clear in the opening seconds as India Draper's speed saw her beat a number of defenders before linking with Meghan Searl.
Fortunately for Pat's, goalkeeper Lilli-Rae Campbell was up to the task and denied the visitors an early goal.
The Saints created chances of their own in that first quarter, a brilliant Ella Davis long ball out of defence picking out Fulton and it required a sharp block from Parkes custodian Gracie Denham Jones to deny her.
Kristy Ekert blasted another attempt into the side of the goal 37 seconds out from the break, but five minutes into the second quarter Fulton gave her side the lead.
Parkes had two penalty corner chances for the period go unconverted.
Both sides threatened from that set piece in the third quarter, Lucy Turner making an excellent trap to deny Pat's while down the other end Campbell made a double-block - turning away a strike from Andrea Gillard then diving to her right to block Peta Fagan's effort.
But with 3.36 left on the clock Parkes had the equaliser thanks to Chloe Carty.
While disappointed to have conceded late, Weal could still see positives from the match
"There is still plenty there to like, we created a few opportunities and if we took a few more of them it could have been a different result," he said.
