Esther Hotham made her return to Premier League Hockey this season hopeful that she could play a role in getting St Pat's to the finals.

That role has been a major one, with Hotham leading the charge for St Pat's towards this Saturday's preliminary final away to Confederates at Orange Hockey Complex.

It's been 10 years since Hotham scored for Bathurst City in their grand final victory and it would be a special achievement for the Saints star to have the chance to repeat that effort in 2020.

Hotham said the Saints squad have been an excellent group to be around in the shortened season.

"I played Premier League Hockey for a few years when I was in Bathurst and it's been great to get back and play with the girls and have a bit of fun along the way," she said.

"Pat's have a such a great base of players, and always have done, and there's a lot of potential there. They've always had great depth in juniors and seniors and they've been a great club to be a part of.

"They were keen for me to come back and I was keen to get back there. It's like I never left. I was able to slot straight back in."

Following her time with Bathurst City Hotham made a move to the Saints in 2013, picking up more grand final success in her first year at the new club, before leaving the competition a few years later.

In her return to the team Hotham's impact has been just as great as it was before she left.

She scored for the Saints in last week's 3-2 minor semi-final victory over Orange CYMS and scored a hat-trick against Orange Ex-Services earlier in the season.

Hotham will be hoping her run of great form against Orange opponents will continue for one more game.

Pat's and Confederates played out a cracking game when they came together just under a month ago, with Millie Fulton's strike the only thing separating them.

Hotham is expecting another great game against Feds.

"Semi-finals are just a different type of hockey. The results from the rest of the season aren't something to go off once you get to finals

"Even though we beat them before it's going to be hard, especially with Orange being a tricky field to play on."

Pat's weren't at their sharpest in the semi-final against CYMS but their bursts a strong play are still an encouraging sign for this Saturday.

They survived a late fightback from CYMS to hold on by a goal, and that determination in defence is something Hotham enjoyed seeing.

"There's positives to come out of it, like that fact we did hang on, but lapses during the game are something that we need to recognise," she said.

"We also need to be capitalising on those opportunities that we get. If we get eight short corners in a game then you need to be scoring from at least four of them.

"Those percentages with shots on goal need to be higher, that's the main issue to take away from it, but the positive thing is the way that we held on."

The winner of the game will move on to face minor premiers Lithgow Panthers in the grand final.

Panthers bested Feds 2-0 in the major semi-final.

Match starts 12.30pm.