Blayney Bears record big win over understrength reserve grade leaders St Pat's

The Bears put themselves within a point of the competition lead thanks to a 42-4 hammering of Pat's, only giving up their first points of the game inside the final five minutes.

However, it's not a result that the Saints will be too fussed about, despite the big margin.

The big casualty list from the Peter McDonald Premiership side's recent derby loss to Bathurst Panthers meant several reserve grade players either had to be called up to the top tier or play both matches on Saturday.

Up until the weekend the Pat's reserves had dropped just a single game all season and they still remain on top of the Group 10 ladder after their second defeat.

Still, that's not to take away from a Bears side who played hungry from the outset and were rewarded for their expansive brand of football.

StBlayney captain Alex Pettit, who scored twice and was one of best on ground, said it was one of the most complete performances the team had put on the park all season.

"Other than the four points they scored with five minutes to go it was pretty much perfect," he said.

"They came out pretty hard in the first 15 minutes but we backed our D and we got it done. We knew this would be a big game for us because we needed to win our next two games to guarantee finals so it was high pressure.

"Everyone had a big game today. I thought Joey Hobby and Nic Barlow were great for us through the middle and Ben Pettit played really well. I can't fault anyone."

Pat's had beaten the Bears 23-22 in a close game earlier this season but with a new-look side for Saturday's latest game it was always going to be tough for the hosts to repeat that result.

Coach Rob Toubia isn't feeling too let down by the result, given the team's circumstances, and backs his side to bounce back over the last two weeks.

"We did lose nine players from our original side. Seven of those went into the first grade starting side," he said.

"Our side was completely different but there's no excuses, everyone knows how to tackle, but we had to get that bad one out of the way before semis."

Alex Pettit made some strong runs down the left edge over the first 10 minutes of the game and was rewarded for those efforts with the opening try, where he finished off a long run downfield from centre Dylan Marmion.

Fullback Will Cramp and Pettit scored again before the 20th minute mark to take the team out to a quick 14-0 lead and Pat's missed an opportunity to hit back when winger Robbie Forrest was pushed into touch just a metre out from the try line.

James Woolmington made the most of an overlap on the right side to push the Bears out to a 20-0 lead at the break.

The dominance continued after the break when Joseph Hobby barged across for a try.

Marmion, Bailey Large and Zack Farr all scored to pile on the pain for the hosts before Forrest picked up a consolation try before the full-time siren.

Pat's have games against Mudgee Dragons and Orange Hawks to come while the Bears have just the one match against Lithgow remaining.

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