It was scrappy at times but at the end of 60 hard fought minutes it was St Pat's that claimed victory in Saturday's Premier League Hockey women's local derby against Souths.
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With the scores locked at nil-all at half-time at the Cooke Hockey Complex, Saints struck twice in just two minutes in the third quarter through youngster Millie Fulton, who scored the only goals of the game.
The 2-0 win was St Pat's fifth victory of the 2021 season and coach Ben Weal acknowledged the strong performance from his midfield.
"It was a really great team effort today," he said.
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"Our midfield was strong and that sort of set us up for that win. It wasn't anything pretty in the midfield, it was just a strong, solid effort.
"All round, it wasn't the prettiest of games, being a bit scrappy at times, but that's what it tends to be a lot of the time in a local derby."
While St Pat's had the better of the possession in the first quarter, chances were at a premium for both sides.
Throughout the first half, both team's best chances came from the penalty corner, with Souths' Sophie McCauley having her effort on goal saved halfway through the second quarter, while two blues goal keeper Kate Brown blocked a shot from St Pat's player Amy Glenn.
Yet it took St Pat's just two minutes into the third quarter to break the deadlock, when Fulton brought the ball into the penalty circle, turned inside to beat the keeper and put it into the goal to give her team a 1-0 lead.
And two minutes later Fulton scored her second goal of the match to double St Pat's lead.
The St Pat's youngster had several more chances throughout the rest of the match, but she was ultimately unable to score her hat-trick.
Weal was full of praise for Fulton, who has now scored six goals this season.
"She's so fast and creates those chances with her speed. She's a major strength of ours, so it was a really good effort," he said.
"She was missing a bit of support today, with her sister Macey and Lily Cable. With those two girls coming back, it'll make us very fast up front."
The loss for Souths was its third in nine matches this season, but the two blues remain on just the one victory this year, achieved against Parkes back at the start of May.
Souths coach Ange Johnson said there's plenty of work to be done by her team ahead of their next game.
"You learn from your losses and what we had was one quarter of hockey that we weren't on and we identified that as an issue for us," she said.
"We need to go back to training and address that. That said, when you have the intent in training put into the game, you have to pleased with the players.
"One of our young kids, Sam Brown got players' player today. There's some positives to take out of the game, but a loss is not where you want to be at the end of a game."
With second place Orange United bringing an end to reigning premiers Lithgow Panthers' undefeated start to the season, St Pat's will remain in the third place following its win over Souths.
Souths positions in fifth remains unchanged, but the two blues are now level on 14 points with Ex-Services, who defeated their local rivals CYMS 2-0.
- ST PAT'S 2 (Millie Fulton 2 goals) defeated SOUTHS 0
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