LAST women’s Premier League Hockey season St Pat’s were knocked out of the finals race by Bathurst City, who had come through from the minor semi-final.
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Now the Saints have the opportunity to put the shoe on the other foot in this Saturday’s preliminary final.
The fixture repeats the 2016 match at the same stage but Pat’s won’t want Saturday’s match to turn out the same way, as they search for their first grand final appearance since 2013.
Saints are looking to break the three year stranglehold City and Lithgow Panthers have had on every decider since their previous start in the grand final.
The blue and white know they’ve got what it takes to bring down their cross-city rivals.
Saints levelled the head-to-head between the clubs this year thanks to their 2-1 success in June.
Even though City will go into this Saturday’s game as favourites Pat’s will feel they can stun their rivals again.
Pat’s booked a spot in the preliminary final thanks to their 3-1 win at home over Confederates.
Pat’s captain Kristy Ekert said her side will be spurred on by the memories of the 2016 finals series.
“We’ve still got last year fresh in our minds and I think that should help us a little bit more for this game because we know what to expect,” she said.
“Matches with City are always intense. We always seem to step up our game whenever we play them. Everyone really wants to get in there and have a go. I think we go in there feeling like we’ve got nothing to lose.”
Ekert said City can skip away if her team don’t put their foot down early.
“Probably our intensity at the start of the game has been hit and miss,” she said.
“The fact that we got that goal 10 minutes into the last game really helped us. The second half last week from the girls was really good too.
“We know City like to play the long ball so we’ve got to stick to our game plan and shut them down.”
Pat’s meet City from 1pm this Saturday.
