While Bathurst City went down 2-0 to St Pat's in Saturday's clash at Bob Roach Field, it certainly didn't make things easy for the Saints.

City was competitive against a side that will next week play in the first grand final qualifier.

It drew the same amount of penalty corners as the Saints - four apiece - and fired in its share of on-target attempts.

In defence City only conceded from set pieces. The Saints' first goal came from a penalty stroke, the second from a penalty corner.

And as has been in the case in many of its games in the back half of the season, City fired off the last shot.

So while City was unable to capitalise on its periods of momentum, skipper Erin Cobcroft knows her team-mates can hold their heads high.

"I think it sort of went one way and then the other, they played really strongly, then we played really strongly. It was like a game of ping-pong, both teams had their strong points," she said.

"They just made better use of their strong points I guess, but it's always a tough game against St Pat's. We expect that."

In the end Bathurst City finished six points outside the top four and on the bottom of the ladder, but it was in contention up until the penultimate round of the season.

That reflects the improvement the young squad made.

"We've done so much better as the season has gone on, we're finding each other up front which was the thing I was saying at the start of the season, our team was struggling to find each other," Cobcroft said.

"We've come a really long way and I think the most important thing is that we've fought and fought and fought, even in that game we worked hard to the end.

"We don't worry about what the score is, we just keep going.

"I think if we can keep most of us in, we'll be in with a good shot next season."

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