BATHURST derbies between Souths and St Pat’s are always a highlight of the men’s Premier League Hockey draw, but when the pair do battle this Saturday is shapes as a more tantalizing prospect than usual.

Most of that has to do with Souths posting a 22-0 win over Bathurst City in round 12 – the same afternoon when Pat’s were disappointing in losing 4-2 to Lithgow Panthers.

While posting double figure scores is something which has previously happened this season, no-one has come close to the onslaught of goals Souths managed against City.

It was a near competition record and what makes it even more impressive is that Souths had not played since May 28 and they were below full strength with both Jono Cole and Reece Jecketts missing.

Souths played with speed and width, they attacked in numbers and were clinical once they penetrated City’s circle.

“The speed of the game impressed me and moreso because of the fact we hadn’t played for three weeks. We had the wash-out and last weekend we didn’t play, so I gave the guys the week off and they freshened up a bit,” Souths coach Ray Winwood-Smith said after Saturday’s big win.

“This week we came back to training and the guys were a little bit scrappy, but the good thing about it was the boys responded. They are very serious about the rest of the year and that showed today.”

The match featured Souths’ new recruit Edu Garriga Viudes, a man who has played hockey at under 21s level for Spain. He finished with five goals, but perhaps more importantly, he showed that he is a team player.

Often when he could have run the ball himself, he instead linked with a team-mate as he demonstrated not only his skill, but his vision.

It was something that made his team-mates lift around him as Daniel Carter, Mike Stanford, Chris Hanrahan, Jono Baillie, Adam Campbell and Bryce Hitchcock found the back of the net as well.

“It’s a very European style of hockey in that it’s receive, hold, give, whereas our style of hockey in Australia is receive, go then see what happens after that. He offers a balance for us in that sense,” Winwood-Smith said.

“It was clinical and fast and while the structure could have deteriorated because of the way things happened, it didn’t.

“I feel sorry for them [City] because they did fall away in the second half, but I was happy to see we kept our structure right through the whole game. From that point of view, fantastic.

“The thing I like about today is that it wasn’t about individuals trying to go themselves and score, it was touch, touch and that was probably the most pleasing thing for me. We looked to move the ball to create the space.”

The final scoreline was an accurate reflection of just how much Souths dominated, but what it didn’t show was the effort from City.

Goalkeepers Kris Grant and Tom Scott both made some smart saves and undoubtedly prevented the scoreline from blowing out even further, while City had their chances in attack as well.

Isaac Darlington fired just wide of goal in a first half penalty corner play while in the second stanza, City forced Souths’ goalkeeper John Rudge to make some saves.

“To be honest, I don’t like winning like that because I don’t think it is good for the game, but I think it wouldn’t have mattered who we played today, we still would have had that score,” Winwood-Smith said.

“I think at the end of the first half we knew we had the momentum and City knew it was going to be hard after that. But credit to the City guys, they tried hard, they were positive on the field and they played in a good spirit.”

Still, Winwood-Smith knows one big one does not ensure continued success. 

Last year after Souths’ women beat Lithgow Zig Zag 21-0 in their last game of the regular season, they crashed out of the finals with consecutive defeats.

He does not want a similar thing to happen to his men. He wants to add another derby win to their tally and push for the competition lead.

“This was one game, next week is another game, we have got Pat’s on Saturday, local derbies are never easy,” he said.