Peter McDonald Premiership: Wellington Cowboys defeated Bathurst St Pat's

The Cowboys hosted Zac Merritt's men at Kennard Park in the first of two sudden-death finals this weekend and it was the hosts who came away with a 30-16 victory.

Wellington's fifth consecutive win was easily their most important to date and captain-coach Justin Toomey-White felt a small core of his side lifted the energy when entering the field.

"Our bench was awesome today," he said.

"We knew when the game was getting tough that it was going to be a 17-man performance.

"That's what semi-finals are. Natty (Lindsay) and (Daniel) Pracy have been priming over the last few weeks, they've played good minutes for us."

The loss for Bathurst St Pat's knocks them out of this year's competition and Zac Merritt felt his side was right in it late.

"We knew it was going to be tough coming here," he said.

"But I thought we gave ourselves opportunities to win, I think with about seven minutes to go we bombed a try which would have brought us within six points.

"We had all the running and if we scored that things could have been different."

Wellington opted to use the breeze to their advantage in the opening half and made an immediate impact with Preston Simpson and Blake Ferguson both crossing early.

"That wind was pretty strong in the first half so we spoke to our halves and said if we had a chance to use the wind we were going to take it," Toomey-White said.

"We started fast before the game got back into the arm wrestle and we just defended our way out of that."

Just when it looked like Wellington had all the momentum, St Pat's star Jackson Brien crossed over in the left-hand corner.

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Toomey-White found himself with some early ball and muscled his way past Noah Griffiths to grab a try of his own and extend Wellington's lead.

But just before half time, Cooper Akroyd got St Pat's back into things, scoring a converted try as Wellington led 16-10 at the break.

Coming out of the sheds, Wellington put their foot down and a clever cross-field kick found a leaping Ferguson who scored yet another try before Brian Baxter and Jai Merritt followed suit.

The Cowboys looked to all but seal the game before a second Brien try put some life back into the Saints with Cameron Dennis' successful conversion bringing the score to 28-16.

The visitors had another set right on Wellington's line before a wayward pass was intercepted, stunting the momentum.

A late Ferguson penalty goal sealed the win for Wellington, advancing them through to next week.

The win for Wellington means they will now play the loser of Mudgee and Parkes for a spot in the preliminary final.

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