Bathurst St Pat’s have opened the season with a win in the Group 10 competition after a 42-14 defeat over the Lithgow Workies Wolves on Saturday, April 7.
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The visitors ran in nine tries against the Wolves for a comfortable win but only converting three goals meant their inability to convert kicks kept the score from being much higher at Toni Luchetti Oval.
The first try went to St Pat’s in the 11th minute when Michael Latu found an opening in the right corner, he then went on to get an intercept on the Wovles line and ran the length of the field for his second try.
After Cody Godden was knocked down hard in a high tackle, he then showed what he was made of by scoring the first points for Lithgow in the 31st minute.
St Pat’s right centre, Christopher Kirby took the final try of the first half to make sure Bathurst had a solid lead of 16-4.
Pat’s started strong in the first minute of the second half with Zach Merrit scoring, they then continued this strength with Joshua Merrit, Captain-coach Greg Behan and Mitchell Squire going on to score.
“Zach Merrit led exceptionally, and with Jack Mackey as go forward, this really put us on the front foot,” Behan said.
In the 63rd minute the clock was stopped so the medical team could check on Joshua Merrit who went down hard in a tackle.
This gave Lithgow the break they needed and in the 64th minute Godden seized an open opportunity and crossed the line for the second time in the match.
With the Workies having their heads back in the game, hooker Joe Bilby showed extraordinary footwork to dodge four players and cross the line in the 66th minute. Greg Alderson then converted the kick to take the score to 32-14.
“Cody Godden went from number six to playing centre and did a terrific job and Joe Bilby played well as full back too,” Workies coach Graeme Osborne said.
St Pat’s showed that they weren’t going to let the Wolves take control of the match and due to Lithgows lack of defence on the left side, second rower McCoy White managed to cross the line with ten minutes left in the match.
“Our starts are vital, and if we can’t do that, then that puts us on the back foot,” Osborne said.
Three minutes later Sam Dwyer from St Pat’s scored the final try, while Caleb Waroman converted to take the final score to 42-14.
Bathurst Captain-Coach Greg Behan said despite having a good start to the season the team still has a long way to go.
“It was a good first game to get out of the road, but we have a lot to work on, including our discipline,” Behan said.
“The boys showed a lot of grit and we had a lot of clean sets on us, and we showed true character in our defence.”
Workies Wolves coach Graeme Osborne said overall they were disappointed to have lost their first full game at their home ground.
“It’s a bit hard to score if you can’t hold on to the ball,” he said.
Going into next weeks match Osborne said they will be working on their second phase plays and their starts.
“There were some positives, but we really need to work on our executions and completion rates because we continually kept giving away the ball.”
Osborne was positive that with training and more matches the Wolves can bring home some wins.
“This was our first hit out, so our match fitness isn’t up to scratch because we didn’t have a trial match and our last game was in March,” he said.
The Workies managed one win against St Pat’s with the under 18’s taking a 16-12 win, while the league tag girls were thrashed 48-0 and the reserve grade went down 38-12.