That was the attitude shown by Confederates' leader Nic Milne on Saturday as his girls fought down to the wire on Saturday, falling 1-0 to a tough Bathurst St Pat's outfit.

Feds flew out of the gate, something that Milne had been asking them to do for several weeks now, but weren't able to turn early field position into points.

Once the smoke cleared and the sides settled into the second half, it was the away side's Millie Fulton who scored what would be the game's only goal, sending the blue and whites into equal second position on the ladder.

And despite the loss, Milne walked out of the Orange Hockey Complex with a smile on his face, knowing he's got a promising group of players under his wing.

"I couldn't quite fault them," Milne said.

"They played the whole 60 minutes and that's what I asked of them. Pat's had their opportunities and they happened to sink one and we didn't but I'm happy with the outcome.

"Obviously I would have liked to have come away with a win but that's just the way it goes."

Confederates move on to play Panthers in the next round and Milne's confident the style of play his girls showed today is good enough to upset the premiers.

"There's not anything we need to tweak," he said.

"We might need to look at how we're taking opportunities when they arise but that's about it."

St Pat's right half Maddy Boyce was impressed with what Confederates threw at her side but was pleased with the resilience her teammates showed.

"Both teams played a really gritty game today," she said.

"It was a tough surface to play on and there were times where momentum shifted to the other team. They're strong in the spine but I think we did a good job eliminating that.

"They had one or two opportunities but our keeper is always incredible and today was no different."

For Boyce, there's plenty to be said about the behind-the-scenes leadership at Pat's as the direction that comes from the dugout is a key piece to the puzzle.

"We have really good coaching staff through Ben, Jimmy, Jaydan and our management as well," she said.

"We are a team that are able stick to our structure and game plan which gives us confidence."