The Saints mistimed and misjudged a relatively simple chase in a 10-run, opening round loss to CYMS last month and with that forced themselves into virtually do-or-die cricket for the remainder of the preliminary stage.

As history shows, just one side that's dropped their first two games has gone on to play in the finals in the Twenty20 competition's seven-season history.

"It was a hard one to swallow after we lost the first one, but that's the nature of Twenty20," St Pat's Old Boys skipper Adam Ryan, who didn't play that first game, said.

"It was a hard one to swallow after we lost the first one, but that's the nature of Twenty20," skipper Adam Ryan said.

"Hopefully we can use that as motivation in Friday's game to make sure we're playing at our best and not taking anyone lightly."

The Saints can't afford to take Kinross lightly, despite the fact the students are, barring an absolute miracle, out of this summer's title race having dropped their first two games to Bathurst City and the Lithgow Lightning already.

They do have form on the board though in the revived Bathurst-Orange Inter-District Cricket (BOIDC) competition after beating City Colts, however more relevant was their performance in their loss to the Lightning just a fortnight ago.

The students lost that game by 24 runs but on any other day their effort with the bat probably would've been enough to claim two competition points, their 7-147 would typically be a winning score. It was just a shame they were chasing 172 to win that night.

"They've shown some good former in the [BOIDC] and are playing well, so we've got to be on our game," he said.

"Anyone can win it on their day, which is the beauty of the comp. I'm just hoping that the boys put in a really good performance."

St Pat's Old Boys are expected to once again name a handful of promising juniors on Friday night, including the likes of Ben Cant, Hugh Parsons and Cooper Brien.

Cant featured in Bathurst's washed-out Rod Hartas Cup clash against Mudgee earlier this month and skippers Scots All Saints College's first XI, which Parsons plays in too.

Brien punched out an unbeaten 137 for St Stanislaus College against Oakhill earlier this month too, so there's no denying the trio's potential.

Having the chance to bring them into the fold is something Ryan said his club focuses on, and the Royal Hotel Cup provides a perfect avenue to do that, especially after stars Nic Broes, Ben Mitchell and Tanvir Singh moved on following last summer's title win.

"They're promising juniors and it's something we pride ourselves on, bringing them through," Ryan said.

"We've been lucky to have some great talents come through so far. They're all doing well.

"It's good that we've got these mid-week games so we can keep them involved in the squad, instead of waiting for when they've got byes or weekends off."

St Pat's Old Boys take on Kinross from 6.30pm on Friday night, at Wade Park.