St Pat's surge clear of Lithgow Workies to move inside Peter McDonald Premiership's top two

The Saints ran away with the contest in the second half after both teams had played out a gritty, though imperfect, opening 40 minutes of football to leave things 14-10 in the hosts' favour at the break.

Pat's jump up to second on the ladder thanks not only to their own win but Mudgee Dragons' victory over the Orange Hawks on Saturday.

It means that the Saints' destiny is now completely in their own hands, as they're guaranteed a qualifying semi-final place if they can win their remaining two games of the regular season.

Much focus was on the Saints' new-look front row of Luke Single, Cameron Dennis and Aaron Mawhinney after injuries in the team's loss to Bathurst Panthers forced a big number of changes to the lineup - most notably the loss of starting hooker Hayden Bolam.

The pack not only saw off the challenge from Lithgow but laid the platform for their side to start moving the ball into space during their much-improved second half.

Single said it was nice to see the early work rewarded deeper into the game.

"We knew we had more to offer coming into the second half. I thought if we set the tone early we'd be able to finish strong and that's what we ended up doing," he said.

"They got a few lucky tries late but other than that I thought we played well in attack and defended great. That's the main thing.

"It was busy up front. They're big boys and they're always tough as well whenever we play them.

"This was a good game to have, especially after last round. The boys were really turning up for each other. A lot of boys were playing out of position but everyone did their job."

Jak Colgate stepped into the starting winger role for the Saints after they lost both their number two and five in the derby and scored twice in the win.

Lithgow's already faint finals hopes officially come to an end with Saturday's result but there were still plenty of bright moments for the team.

Workies halfback Cooper Egan was arguably the best on ground across both sides while Dylan and Elias Dukes each scored twice during strong performances in the backline.

Workies player-coach Jack Sullivan, playing at five eighth on Saturday instead of his usual second row spot, said it's been a season of promise but also one of missed opportunities.

"The comp all-round is stronger than it's previously been. There's not a huge gap between the top and bottom like the last three years has been so I think people keep underestimating us and [Orange] CYMS. We're been closer than it looks," he said.

"We have a couple of good games to come against Panthers and CYMS. Hopefully we can finish well. We just need to fix a few things up."

Workies dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game and had two scoring opportunities close to the Pat's line.

They were able to make the most of one of those times through an Elias Dukes try.

Strong runs from Caleb Wardman and Jackson Brien led to tries before Dylan Dukes stretched out across the stripe to make it 10-all with 15 minutes until half-time.

Henry Oates' try three minutes out from the break gave Pat's a faint edge at the siren.

Colgate's great diving catch off a chip kick to score early in the second half set the tone for Pat's for the remainder of the match.

Single scored shortly after to make it 24-10.

Egan tried to keep Workies close with a smart try off his own grubber kick but a quick response from Ash Cosgrove, through a length of the field try, put Pat's into a commanding position.

Colgate's second try and an excellent weaving try to Trae Fitzpatrick sealed the result.

Lithgow fought on until the finish and the Dukes boys each picked up their second tries to make the final losing margin more respectable.

ST PAT'S 38 (Jak Colgate 2, Caleb Wardman, Jackson Brien, Henry Oates, Luke Single, Luke Cosgrove, Trae Fitzpatrick tries; Cooper Neilsen 2, Cameron Dennis conversions) defeated LITHGOW WORKIES 26 (Elias Dukes 2, Dylan Dukes 2, Cooper Egan tries; Egan 3 conversions)