Due to injuries and illness, St Pat's took just 12 players to Mudgee for the round nine match, but the blue and whites still managed to claim a 22-18 win.

St Pat's coach Matt Dunn said he was proud that his boys could claim victory against the odds.

"It was a massive effort," he said.

"When we were warming up, the boys were aware of what was at hand. We originally had 13, but another one pulled out the morning of the game.

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"In the warm up, we just spoke about staying positive and sticking to our structure, even with 12 players. We had to focus on the little things, like getting through out sets, getting our line speed right and making our tackles.

"They were still really positive in the warm-up, but the effort they showed was massive."

Being short on numbers has been a bit of issue in recent weeks for Dunn, but normally numbers have been good for the under 18s team.

"The last couple of weeks, we've been a bit short through injury and illness, so that has hurt us a bit," he said.

"I actually had 14 originally, but I had one injured in the Astley Cup on the Friday and then obviously the other one on Saturday morning pulling out.

"We've normally had good numbers, but injury and illness has hurt us in the past few weeks.

Dunn opted to play without a lock for the match.

"Normally we've got a ball-playing lock," he said.

"It would've been handy in defence to have one but everyone aimed up in the middle. They just worked for each other.

"At one stage in the game, the Mudgee halfback threw an intercept and we had six blokes chasing back to make the tackle. That's the sort of effort that you can't coach, it's all up to them."

The win for St Pat's was the club's fourth of the season in the under 18s competition.

The four-point victory over Mudgee moves the blue and whites up to eighth in the overall ladders, but fourth in the Group 10 ladder.

Dunn said his team's form has been "up and down".

"We've had a lot of games where we've had chances to put teams away, but we just haven't been able to," he said.

"It's been a bit frustrating but the last two weeks we've built a bit of good momentum with a win against Lithgow in Lithgow and then obviously the Mudgee game.

"I'm hoping they can build on that heading into Hawks.

"They're currently fourth on the Group 10 ladder. Hopefully this is now a turning point in their season."

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