Dubbo Raidettes claim upset victory over St Pat's in Western League Tag qualifying final in Bathurst

But the Raidettes weren't just wide awake and up for the challenge - they were the ones dictating terms.

In one of the biggest upsets across any grade this year the Raidettes pulled off a 16-12 victory over the four-time defending Group 10 champion Saints.

The Raidettes scored all their points during a dominant opening half's play and did enough on the defensive end to hold off a resurgent Saints who tried to claw back to 12-point half-time deficit.

Raidettes captain Lilli-Rae Campbell was over the moon to achieve the win.

"We were hungry and we wanted it and you could really tell. Pat's don't really lose, so to be one of the few teams to get a win over them is such a huge thing for us," she said.

"We've been working really hard for this. We've got half a team full of juniors who are all fired up. We want to be the underdogs and keep this going."

It was an especially satisfying victory for the Raidettes after they were downed 30-6 by the Saints earlier this season.

"The first day of training we had a rainy day in Dubbo so we watched our game against them and knew exactly who we had to pick out and what we had to do," Campbell said.

"We knew if we defended well and shut down their tow players who run the gaps then we'd have a great game.

"We started really hard. We didn't end things the best but it was that hard start that won us the game."

It's the Saints' first taste of defeat since this exact same contest in last year's season, where they lost the Group 10 qualifying final to Orange CYMS (16-6).

Saints player-coach Mish Somers said the team will need to use the rare feeling of defeat to spur them on to better things this finals series.

"We definitely didn't play our best footy today. They came out firing and we had to defend too much in that first half and we weren't left with enough time at the end," she said.

"They were a bit physical and we just weren't ready for that. That had us on the back footy a bit in defence. We came out better in the second half but probably panicked a bit towards the end instead of completing our sets.

"That's finals footy though. You've got to take the good with the bad. They're a great side and congratulations go to them."

Raidettes started the second half positively by enjoying three straight sets on the Pat's try line but the Saints defence was strong enough to see it out.

After a tough opening 10 minutes to start the new half Pat's began to find more possession and bring their way back upfield.

Erin Naden's grubber and chase off her own kick saw her give Pat's hope of a comeback midway through the half.

It then became a very realistic proposition when Bronte Emanuel made the most of an overlap on the left edge to bring the Bathurst side within four.

But the Raidettes held firm to bring themselves within one more victory of a grand final appearance.

DUBBO RAIDETTES 16 (Katie Kelly, Shanique Darlington, Breighel Thuell tries; Saxbii Shaw 2 conversions) defeated ST PAT'S 12 (Sophie Stammers, Erin Naden, Bronte Emanuel tries)

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