St Pat's maintain their unbeaten Group 10 league tag streak with big win over Orange CYMS

The Saints, still on a winning streak dating back to the 2018 season, were far too strong for the girls in green as they ran out 32-6 victors on a boggy home turf.

Erin Naden scored a double for Pat's as they maintained their two-point break over the Orange Hawks at the top of the table.

Saints coach Michelle Somers said the score disguises how much CYMS forced the hosts to earn their points.

"We've had some tough games against CYMS and they're often a very strong defensive team so it can be hard to break through and get points on them," she said.

"They played well and we really had to step up and put our best foot forward in the second half."

Pat's raced out to a 14-0 lead midway through the opening half thanks to tries from Danielle Fisher, Taneisha Pringle and Naden.

Before Saints threatened to really run away with the contest CYMS found a reply through Emily Williams five minutes before half-time.

Sarah Watterson got on the board after the break and a pair of late tries for Naden and Paige Hay sealed the deal for the Saints.

The recent rain had drastically slowed the pace of the Bathurst ground but Somers believes that may have played into her team's hands.

"The have a couple of quick, young girls so that helped to bring the game back to a comfortable pace for us. It's definitely harder to get moving and move quick on that field that we had on Sunday," she said.

"Our middles worked really hard for their metres and we shifted the ball wide and found gaps out in the centres, where our fast girls like Erin Naden and Paige Hay could find points in space."

Pat's came into the game having scored 78 points over their last two matches combined, and they weren't going to let a slow surface interrupt their high scoring trend.

Somers said it was nice to see consistency in the team's offence and defence over the entire 50 minutes.

"We've been building a little bit and I'd say that was one of our most complete performances across the full duration of a game," she said.

"That was the first round of games and we've played everyone now so the girls have an idea of what to expect. We're really looking forward to the second half of the season."

In a statistic that demonstrates the Saints' continual dominance of the Group 10 league tag competition in 2021, no team has managed to finish within three converted tries of the Bathurst team this season.

Blayney Bears remain the closest finishers to the Saints with a 24-6 result in round five.

Pat's will take on Bathurst rivals Panthers in this Sunday's derby at Carrington Park.

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