The Saints, having led for the majority of the round three match, were forced to withstand plenty of pressure in the final 20 minutes.

They defended a handful of sets on their own try-line with the result in the balance.

A gutsy effort ensured that Panthers couldn't secure the try they needed, and the men in black were left to rue some overuse of the football in attack when the game was up for grabs.

The defeat drops Panthers to a one-from-three record, having also lost a close one to Oberon in round one before hitting back against Cowra a week later.

"That's what we want to base our season on, looking at first and second round scores we assessed things and decided that defence was going to win games in this competition," Pat's coach Kurt Hancock said.

"We haven't concentrated too much on the structures over the last couple of weeks and that probably showed a bit with the ball control. We've been solely concentrating on our 'd' [defence], particularly around the ruck.

"One of the sayings around the club this year is commitment to each other and I thought we showed that in tonnes."

Panthers spent large periods of the game with the ascendancy in terms of the territorial battle and they enjoyed a 9-5 penalty count. However, in the end it wasn't enough to snare the result.

In the initial stages they looked in good touch. Blake Lawson produced some smart work from dummy-half to score the opening try after 10 minutes on the back of a Matt Rose kick that earned Panthers a repeat set.

But it didn't take long for Pat's to find their feet, and even with Panthers making it through 20 minutes before their first error, the Saints had begun to work their way into the game.

Towering second rower Pale Ale proved a handful on the left edge with some damaging runs and off-loads, while Pat's hooker Benjamin John also got his side into the yardage battle.

Ale helped set up his team's opening try through winger Jon Hanscomb and Gary Reilly's conversion gave them a 6-4 lead.

Ex-CSU rugby star Cam Backhouse had an impact as well after coming on, setting up John for the Saints' second under the posts and they looked set to take a 12-4 lead to half-time.

However, Rose found touch from the kick-off and a few minutes later after earning a scrum just inside Pats' territory, an early kick from Joey Bugg caught Pat's napping. It was Rose who touched down.

Bugg's conversion then narrowed the gap to two points at the break.

After doing the hard work to get back into the game before half-time, Panthers were stung by Backhouse once more after play resumed as he delivered a perfect kick for Dave Howard to score.

Not to be outdone, the unlikely figure of Panthers forward Trent Rose produced a good kick of his own to set up Mitch Davis for his team's third. The unsuccessful goal kick meant that Pat's led 16-14 with more than 25 minutes remaining.

Having looked good in attack up until then, it seemed that the possibility of pinching a win forced Panthers into panic football. Their error rate picked up significantly as they tried to push into the lead.

A handful of Panthers' sets were started deep inside St Pat's territory but time and again a shoddy pass, or a brilliant effort in defence from the Saints denied them. While it looked as if the men in black would score even up until the last minute, Pat's refused to wilt and they walked away with the sort of win that a season can be built upon.

Howard was superb in defence as he repeatedly shut down back line movements while Ale and John in the middle were keys to their side staying in the territorial battle. Backhouse too had a major impact from the bench.

For Panthers, as ever Brent Seager was superb in the showdown between the two forward packs while Bugg steered his side around well.

"That was one of the quietest games I've seen 'Bubba' [Panthers centre William Kennedy] play," Hancock said. "I know he's getting a bit old, but he was probably the best on the field against Cowra last week and I spoke to Dave Howard about playing on him this week, and he was really relishing the challenge to see where he was at defensively.

"He was outstanding. What we've been working on really showed in our defence this week."

BATHURST ST PAT'S 16 (Dave Howard, Jon Hanscomb, Benjamin John tries; Gary Reilly 2 goals) def BATHURST PANTHERS 14 (Mitch Davis, Blake Lawson, Matt Rose tries; Joey Bugg goal)