St Pat's down Lithgow Workies 34-8 in Peter McDonald Premiership

Played in windy and chilly conditions at the Tony Luchetti Sportsground, St Pat's kept the hosts scoreless in the second half, as the blue and whites picked up a 34-8 win, their fourth win of the season.

Merritt said he was proud of his team's defensive effort.

"We kind of spoke about it before the game, that we had set a platform against Mudgee and that we wanted to build our season off that," he said.

"Lithgow are a good side and they keep showing up but in the second half they didn't score at all.

"That was probably the most proud I've been of our defence all year. They just kept turning up."

St Pat's centre Matt Ranse scored two tries, while Lee McClintock, Mitch Squire, Jackson Brien and Blake Fitzpatrick all score one each.

Winger Matt Beattie hit 10 points in the match, as he booted five conversions for the blue and whites.

Following some tough conditions in the first half, Merritt said his team excelled in the second half.

"The first half was pretty tough," he said.

"We were running into the wind and it was blowing a gale. I just wanted the boys to stick to their structure.

"We probably weren't doing that in the first half. In second half, we really turned it up and stuck to how we wanted to play. We did that really well and we started to get the ball flowing.

"I'm pretty proud of the boys' effort. We had the draw last week against Panthers, so it was good to bounce back from that and get a good result under our belt.

"We had a few out today, about three or four from our starting side. We were positive and we really needed the win, especially so we could have that week off and rest a few niggling injuries and that sort of stuff."

One played that came into the squad on Saturday was SG Ball Cup premiership winner Josh Belfanti.

Belfanti won the junior competition earlier this season with the Penrith Panthers and made his return with his junior club on Saturday.

"He's just come back from the Penrith Panthers' SG Ball squad. He won the comp down there," Merritt said.

"He wanted to come back and play with his mates, being a St Pat's junior. It was good because he played a full game and he said he hadn't done that for a while.

"He had a really good performance, the big fella."

The result puts St Pat's in good stead heading into the general bye across the June long weekend.

St Pat's is now undefeated in three matches, following a 28-16 win over Hawks on May 22, a 26-all draw with local rivals Panthers on May 28 and Saturday's win over Lithgow.

St Pat's will travel to Mudgee when play resumes on June 19, the Dragons the last team to beat the Saints back in round five.

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