St Pat's overcome Orange CYMS 36-10 in Peter McDonald Premiership

With rival sides hot on their heels for their top two spot in the Peter McDonald Premiership the pressure didn't get to St Pat's on Saturday as they recorded a 36-10 victory at home over Orange CYMS.

The Saints snapped a two-game losing run in style, as Willie Wright, Lee McClintock and Hayden Bolam each scored twice at Jack Arrow Sporting Complex.

There was an element of danger about the green and golds after their win a week ago against the Nyngan Tigers but a strong second half from Pat's quickly dispelled any ideas of a repeat success for the Orange men.

The game was wide open at half-time as the score read 14-4 but a mixture of strong metres through the middle and some creative play widened the gap on the scoreboard.

Importantly for Pat's they played out the full 80 minutes to improve their point differential, which could become vital in the coming weeks in what's becoming a close Group 10 tussle on the table.

There were still points left out there for the Saints.

Those included a couple of botched chances close to the try line, as well as a rough day converting in windy conditions for Matt Beattie - who otherwise had an excellent game on the wing.

St Pat's player-coach Zac Merritt, who sat out the game due to injury, said there's still room to lift over an important month of league to come.

"The conditions were pretty bad out there, and I thought despite that they were able to play a good brand of footy there in the second half.

"We knew that CYMS were going to turn up right from the first half, after they picked up a win last week, and they were going to be full of confidence.

"We stuck to our structure and played much better footy in the second half, which the scoreboard shows. There's still plenty for us to build on though."

Wright opened the scoring for Pat's with a 10^th minute try under the posts but CYMS were able to punish the Saints for a couple of wasteful fifth tackle options by finding their first try of the game through Luke Trott.

A barnstorming run downfield from Saints centre Jackson Brien inside the last 10 minutes of the half set up Call Naden for a try on the right wing at the end of the set.

Pat's managed to pick up another try in the shadows of half-time McClintock brought down a bomb unchallenged and stepped inside to score in plenty of space.

The blue and white threatened to blow things open seven minutes into the new half when a brilliant offload from Cooper Akroyd put Bolam in for a try.

However, CYMS kept pace with their opponents when halfback Patrick Williams caught the Pat's defence napping by opting to run the ball instead of kicking on the last tackle - diving over for his team's second try.

That try appeared to spark the Pat's attack to find a new gear.

McClintock was able respond almost straight away with his second try and Wright completed his brace just minutes later when a fortunate string of CYMS errors on a grubber kick put the ball straight into his hands.

Brien continued to be a complete handful for the CYMS defence to try and contain, and it was another one of his runs that helped set Bolam up for another try in the 71^st minute.

A chip kick to the right corner then allowed Saints interchange player Josh Belfanti to score with ease and complete a big second half's play for the hosts.

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BATHURST ST PAT'S 36 (Willie Wright 2, Lee McClintock 2, Hayden Bolam 2, Call Naden, Josh Belfanti tries; Matt Beattie 2 conversions) defeated ORANGE CYMS 10 (Luke Trott, Patrick Williams tries; Liam Wilson conversion)