Premier League Hockey: St Pat's chase better finishing in their home meeting with CYMS

St Pat's haven't had many issues at all with either their defence or their build up play but their lack of enough finishing touches has left them without a win from their first two games.

They have the opportunity to end their winless start this weekend when they host a CYMS team also looking to develop young talent of their own.

Somers said despite the draw and a loss to start the year there's been very few reasons for the team to drop their heads when reflecting on the opening two rounds.

"Everyone was a bit down after last week when we had the attack but we just couldn't put a goal away. The girls will bounce back," she said.

"We had a good session on Tuesday. The girls are pretty pumped so hopefully we can transfer that onto the field this Saturday.

"Last year it was a similar story for us where we struggled to score over the first few rounds and we lacked a bit of hunger in front of goal and in the circle."

The Saints are going through a similar changing of the guard at the front of the field like their cross-city rivals Bathurst City, but the high level of junior representative experience for the Pat's collective gives them an edge.

Somers believes it won't take long for that experience to come into play - it's just that the physicality of the top senior level of hockey in the Central West can just be a shock at first.

"We've got a few younger girls up the front who are finding their feet. The two Fulton girls and Lily Kable are all up front for us and they're coming off NSW duties so they know how to play hockey," she said.

"They're just playing against bigger and stronger girls. They need to use their pace to hopefully get around the defence and put a few goals on."

Across the rest of the park there's been very little to fault, in Somers' eyes.

The team had a brief and costly lapse in their 2-all draw with Souths but their structure has been holding up well.

"Carly Hagney's in the middle again, doing really well, and Paige Hay and Amy Glenn are our inners who can run all day. They're two of the fittest girls in the comp. The whole middle of the field is looking really good," she said.

"Lucy Weal and Sophie Conroy are holding up the back, supported by Jodi Sharp and Maddy Boyce, so we've got a strong back end of the park."

The match is the only Premier League Hockey fixture taking place at Bathurst this Saturday, and it gets underway at the Cooke Hockey Complex from 12.20pm.

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