A Millie Leard double did the job for the Panthers at Bob Roach Field, scoring off a cross in the second quarter before finding her second goal on the counter in the early stages of the final term.

However, with the sheer volume of scoring opportunities and circle penetrations for the Panthers it could have been much worse for St Pat's if not for a number of goal line clearance and great stops from goalkeeper Lili-Rae Campbell.

"We started making silly mistakes and handing the ball back to them and you can't do that against a team like Lithgow," St Pat's coach Bec Clayton said.

"We had six out today so I'm pretty happy with how the girls went. I was hoping to keep them below two but it was a big effort.

"I have a lot of faith in our defence. It's hard when you're missing a lot of attack up front so that's going to put your defence under pressure, but the girls held it together really well.

"There were probably five to six saves right off the line, with Sav [Draper] and Kathleen [Gofrey] saving a couple, and Lili was excellent and made some great saves.

"It could have well and truly been more than two goals if not for that."

Panthers nearly opened the scoring after four minutes when a shot was cleared off the line and in the 10^th minute the Saints survived the first of what would be six Lithgow penalty corners.

The pressure eventually became too much two minutes into the second term when a cross found Leard at the top left of the circle, and with a little too much space to work with she was able to put the shot away.

Clare Bosman made a threatening move into the Saints circle just a few minutes later and Pat's survived another pair of Panthers penalty corners in succession.

Jodi Webb managed to first true shot for the Saints in the dying seconds of the opening half.

Her teammate Lily Kable looked to spark a Pat's fightback with her dangerous solo run into the circle and subsequent shot on goal.

But the wave of Panthers offensive pressure continued during a quarter with three Lithgow penalty corners and a relentless series of circle penetrations in the last few minutes.

Pat's went into the last quarter still just a goal behind but it took just 18 seconds for that to change.

The hosts turned the ball over and through a series of quick passes Leard was put into the one-on-one situation with Campbell and sent the Pat's stopper the wrong way with a shot to the right corner.

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