The 1-0 defeat saw the Pat's come away empty handed despite being on the right end of an 11-1 penalty corner count, and dominant stretches of play over the second and third quarters.

Saints coach Bec Clayton said the result shouldn't take away from some of the excellent work that her side produced across the park at Bob Roach Field.

"Honestly, I couldn't fault the girls' effort today. Everyone tried their guts out. We had the opportunities and we just didn't convert, so that's something we'll work on at training," she said.

"We can't be having that many opportunities and not convert. City didn't have many opportunities down their end but they made the most of one of them and that's how the game ended.

"Whilst I disappointed with the scoreline I'm not disappointed with the effort."

Seven of the Saints' penalty corners came in the second quarter, with the majority of them not even resulting in a shot on target.

The chances to score were also there for Pat's in open play, with Lily Kable once again creating several opportunities through her high pace.

Given the strong start to the season so far Clayton said it's certainly not panic stations for her team.

"Thankfully we're still in the top half of the ladder, and while we can't allow games like that to happen too often I still think we're in a pretty good position even though today got away from us," Clayton said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: