THEY kept themselves in the fight for three quarters, but in the end the under 14 Saints ran out of gas to lose their Group 10 Junior Rugby League elimination semi-final 40-18 to Bloomfield on Saturday.
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The match at Tony Luchetti Sportsground saw six lead changes as both sides fought for survival and there was only six points in it with a quarter to play.
Bloomfield led at that point as they'd scored five tries to the Saints' three, but the perfect conversion record of Pat's Cameron Sargent kept things tight.
However, after that Bloomfield dominated possession. The Saints tried hard to hold them, but spending long periods in defence drained them. They cracked.
"It just comes down to communication which wasn't there all the way through, we were up there until half-time but then from our side our defence just let us down," Jeff Hudson, who runs the Saints with Tim Heffernan, said.
"The first half we went try for try, but we just made it too hard on ourselves in the second half.
"We just let go of it there towards the end and it made it too hard to come back. They had 80 percent of the ball in the second half and we just got tired."
Before Bloomfield ran away with it in the final quarter it was a quality battle.
The Saints made up for an early error - letting the kick-off bounce dead in goal - with a strong defensive set and it the fifth minute Sargent found space on the left edge and ran away to score.
Bloomfield scored the next two tries to take the lead, but on the first set of the second quarter the Saints snatched it back after Brett Aynsley-Hah reached out and planted the ball between the sticks.
Momentum continued to swing as Bloomfield lock Jayden Innes - who was arguably best on ground - scored then Tyler Murphy responded for Pat's to make it 18-16.
But they were the last points for the Saints.
In the third quarter Sargent pulled off a try-saver for the Saints as he chased back hard to catch Taz Jordan after he took an intercept for Bloomfield. But by the end of that set Hunter Mooney had crossed and the Orange outfit led 20-18.
Though there were some bright moments for the Saints after that, including a line break from Murphy, Bloomfield dominated possession and it reflected on the scoreboard.
BLOOMFIELD TIGERS 40 (Jayden Innes 3, Hunter Mooney 2, Chayse King, Tamaiti Platn tries; Ryan Baker 2, Taz Jordan 2 goals) defeated ST PAT'S 18 (Cameron Sargent, Brett Aynsley-Hah, Tyler Murphy tries; Cody Alexander 3 goals)
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