Group 10: Bathurst Panthers and St Pat's can't break deadlock as they play out 28-all draw

In an unexpected turn of events, they would leave after the full-time whistle with that deadlock still intact.

Panthers and Saints played out an entertaining, if scrappy, 28-all draw where each club traded tries throughout the 80 minutes.

In fact, on only one occasion was a team able to score two tries in a row before their opponent could find a response.

The back-and-forth nature of the game certainly didn't come about from flawless football - which came as no surprise considering both teams had not played for three weeks or more - but it was still gripping viewing.

Each team showcased their creative spark at different points of the game and had some clutch moments in defence.

Panthers had the slight edge at half-time with an 18-12 advantage and had the Saints in plenty of trouble midway through the second half, pinning Pat's deep in their own territory.

Pat's navigated through that tough period but Panthers remained in the driver's seat holding a 28-22 advantage on the back of a Claude Gordon try with 14 minutes to go.

Tyler Colley's solo effort to score between the uprights would level the game with six minutes on the clock.

Panthers captain Doug Hewitt looked to channel his 2019 grand final heroics by kicking a winning field goal with just over two minutes to go, but couldn't quite get the kick away in time to avoid having it being charged down by Pat's.

Panthers centre Claude Gordon said it was a disappointing feeling to give up the late lead after enjoying the bigger share of possession in the second half.

"It's our starts. We can't afford to start like that. We clawed our way back into it though and got ourselves out to a half-time lead," he said.

"We just started doing under 8s stuff. We weren't controlling the ball and not shutting the gate back on the inside. That's the fundamentals and that's what the game is based on.

"We just weren't good enough with that today."

It had been four weeks since Panthers took to the field for a match but Gordon was still hopeful that the derby occasion would have brought out some stronger football from his team.

"That break definitely doesn't help, but these guys would have been up for it just as much as us, being a local derby," he said.

"I thought we were still solid right across the park, but it was just a case of not getting those fundamentals right today."

Saints coach Zac Merritt was more upbeat about the result after three weeks away from any game time.

Considering his side struggled for field position in many stages of Saturday's game he was pleased with the fight his squad showed.

"In the first half both teams were pretty flat, which you'd expect from both teams having three or four weeks off. To have it finish 28-all when we were gone for most of the game feels like a win to us," he said.

"It's a real credit to our guys in the way that they fought back to get the ball out of our own half, which is where we were for the majority of the game."

Merritt said the defensive resolve Pat's showed in the second half is something he'd been hoping to see more of in the later stages of the season.

"That's why we did that big pre-season, to focus on those little things when the game is in the balance," he said.

"We want to be able to go to the next level in those situations. I thought in that second half we started using the footy well, and our halves really started to take control.

"Hayden Bolam played a really good game, Tyler Colley opened the game up to get us level and Haze Reweti stepped right up in his first game back when things were in the balance."

Pat's got the first good shot of the match when they earned a repeat set near the Panthers line in the fourth minute.

They took advantage of the extra tackles by moving the ball out to the left wing and finding the first try through Joey Coughlan.

Panthers prop Brent Seager brought it back to 6-all when he bulldozed across the Saints try line just four minutes later.

The teams traded errors after that try and they tried to get some rhythm going in attack.

Pat's eventually found some in the 15^th minute as hooker Mitch Squire darted out of dummy half and avoided several Panthers tacklers to restore the six point gap.

But it was a case of deja vu as Panthers again responded quickly, this time through second rower Abel Lefaoseu, off a short inside pass.

Panthers hit the lead for the first time in the 26^th minute as another well placed short ball, this time to Gordon, gave them an 18-12 advantage.

Pat's had the better chances in the last 10 minutes of the half, but dropped the ball just short of the Panthers line and immediately squandered another opportunity after forcing a line drop out.

Panthers almost scored immediately after half-time when a short kick went just out of the reach of the chasing duo of Charlie Hutchins and Ben Gunn.

It would instead by Pat's who struck first in the new half, crossing in the 45^th minute.

A well placed grubber to the left corner saw Coughlan claim his second try of the day, although the missed Colley conversion had Panthers up 18-16.

From that point on Panthers had Pat's buried deep in their own half across a strong 10 minute stretch of play.

In that time Hewitt was able to burst through for a try near the uprights and a 24-16 lead.

Panthers couldn't consolidate on that momentum though, and just after the hour mark Jackson Brien got it back to a two-point game.

Pat's immediately coughed up the ball on the next set and were punished through Gordon's second try of the day, but Josh Rivett's missed conversion left the gap at six points.

Saints rescued a draw through a brilliant solo effort from Colley.