AFTER slipping from the top of the men's Premier League Hockey ladder with a fortnight of below par performances, St Pat's rediscovered their ruthless streak at Bob Roach Field on Saturday.

They put 11 goals past local rivals Bathurst City, with seven different players finding the back of the net.

While City did manage to repel the Saints for a 25-minute period in the second half as goalkeeper Kris Grant made a string of impressive saves and Luke McIntosh a brilliant block to hold out a penalty corner attempt, once Pat's found one goal, more flowed quickly.

The defending premiers put away five goals in the final 10 minutes of the match to go with the six they had scored in the opening stanza.

Pat's co-captain Shane Conroy admitted that City had managed to frustrate his side during that period in the second half, but he was pleased with how his Saints finished the contest.

"We were probably trying to go too quick and pushed passes rather than playing with a little bit more patience like we usually do," he said.

"I thought if we could get one goal, we'd get a roll on - which we did - so it finished up okay.

"We have been struggling a bit in front of the net the last two-three weeks, so it was nice to get a few in and it does the young guys up front good too, it builds their confidence."

Given City pushed Parkes all the way on their home turf a week earlier before going down 5-4, the Saints knew their rivals would have renewed confidence for Saturday's derby.

It meant a strong start was crucial for the Saints and that was exactly what they delivered.

The first goal came with just 90 seconds of play gone, an unmarked Brodie Cook latching onto a deflected shot and powering home on the left post.

Brent Naylor added a second soon after and went Jaden Ekert showed a nice piece of skill to beat two defenders at the top of the circle before finding the mark, it was 3-0 after nine minutes.

"We'd spoken about having a few slow starts, and we'd spoken about starting that first five minutes really, really hard," Conroy said.

"Especially with them coming off a good result last week, we knew that they would come out hard and that we needed to start well and not be complacent."

The difference in experience was evident as the half unfolded as Pat's used their width to draw out City's defence and provided numerous leads off the ball.

Their smart, crisp passing was in contrast to what City produced as while Kevin Sherman's side did manage to mount some counter-attacking moves, too often the ball was thrown too long or not quickly enough.

It took 20 minutes for City to notch up their first circle penetration, but again the final pass was sent out of the reach of an oncoming Cody Sherman and Pat's goalkeeper Taylor Newton was able to kick it away to safety.

City also drew the first penalty corner of the contest, but rather than adjusting their attempt when Newton went to ground early, the shot was fired straight into his pads.

With eight minutes of the half remaining, Pat's found another gear and put on three more goals in quick time.

Davis, who was allowed too much space down the right wing, made it 4-0 before Pat's struck via Tobbie Muldoon and Ekert from penalty corners. Both those successful shots were low and to the left.

While trailing 6-0, City did renew their efforts in the second half. Taking over in goals Grant impressed - he made a sharp glove save, managed to deny Ekert when he looked beaten on the ground, then made a full length dive to cut off a pass which would have left him in a one-on-one.

As the game drew inside the final 10 minutes City were a chance of keeping a clean sheet for the half - something which would have been a good response to their opening 35 minutes.

But it was not to be.

Conroy and Davis added a pair of quick goals to make it 8-0 and when Ekert once more found a gap low to the left off a penalty corner, the Saints were in reach of double figures.

Following in on the back post earned James Martin the 10th goal, before Muldoon added another off a penalty corner to see the final score read 11-0 in favour of the Saints.

ST PAT'S 11 (Jaden Ekert 3, Darcy Davis 2, Tobbie Muldoon 2, Shane Conroy, Brodie Cook, Brent Naylor, James Martin) defeated BATHURST CITY 0